I Do Not Have White Guilt, Local Resident Tells Skowhegan School Board. But, I Listen

Nancy Blaisdell Baxter speaking to the school board which has the power to retire the racist mascot of Skowhegan Area High School (SAHS still calls its teams "Indians" amid growing opposition). Baxter cited a historic tour she took recently of the island in the middle of town and suggested "Islanders" would be a good alternate name for the school's many teams. Elementary school principal Jean Pillsbury looks on.

Last night was an unusual school night for me. Emboldened by the prospect of a snow day (5am, just got the call!) I stayed out late enough to join four other women in favor of retiring the racist "Indian" sports mascot of our local high school. I wore my dad's old varsity letter sweater which has no mention of the name nor any caricatures of Native people. I was inspired, not for the first time, by the leadership of Penobscot Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana who recently sent a letter asking the school board to make a change. I also sent an email to Superintendent Brent Colbry which you can read here.

Before any of us spoke, the Civil Rights Team adviser of one of the board's elementary schools set the tone by explaining what civil rights means, and why they are important. 

The beauty of diversity on display in a hat crafted by fiber artist and wise woman Rainbow Cornelia.

My sister and I had just visited a nearby art gallery to see an impressive group show Color: Explorations in Fiber. One of the artists was MSAD#54 board member Peggy Lovejoy, and she came over before the meeting got underway to give us a hug. Peggy described some of the harassment and threats she's received over the years from Skowhegan "Pride" group members who resent her advocacy for moving into the 21st century and leaving emblematic racism behind. We said we were sorry she had to go through that; Peggy is a petite retired Kindergarten teacher.

First to speak from our team was booster mom Julie Cooke. She described the tension her daughter, a senior athlete at SAHS, has experienced over the racist name. They bought a special softball helmet for her so that she would not have to wear one that said "Indians" on it. Her friends stopped wearing their team t-shirts because whoever ordered them had "Indian Pride" printed on the shirts without consulting the team.

Julie said she hoped the board would do the right thing so her daughter could finish out her high school athletic career without the divisive issue of racism hanging overhead.

Later, in the parking lot, Julie told us that the booster moms are overwhelmingly in favor of changing the team name, for the good of their kids. A couple of diehard coaches are, in her opinion, the ones standing in the way.

Julie was super speaking to the board, and her mom Ann MacMichael followed up with an elder woman's reflections: how it is hard sometimes to change, and how she's learned to let go. She hopes her granddaughter and all students will benefit from changing the team name.

Here is the text of my sister Hope Savage's remarks to the MSAD#54 board last night, which were spot on. (Emphasis and links added by me.)

I do not have white guilt. 

I did not commit the atrocities my ancestors enacted by using other human beings for slaves, neither did any of you on the school board. 

I am not personally responsible for committing deliberate genocide of Native Americans. Neither are any of you in this room today. 

I did not offer a bounty for Native American scalps, nor have I ever scalped a Native American. Neither have any of you here tonight, I’m willing to bet. 

I have never stolen Native children from their parents and put them in boarding schools in order to educate the Indian out of them and I know this school board hasn’t either.  

I have never killed a Native American in order to take their land as my own. I seriously doubt anyone here tonight has done so or would ever do so. 

Yet I, as you do, have some responsibility here. Because my ancestors benefited greatly by the abuse of other humans. This benefit of lands and political power gained by the slaughter are still mine...and yours. The Native children removed from their families, denied the right to their own culture, their mouths washed out with soap if they spoke in their language they learned first were not from a long time ago. They are still here today, some in their early 30’s, to tell the stories of their pain. 

It wasn’t that long ago.

And what can I, who never personally injured them, do about that past? Not much!

I can’t change it. I have nothing to offer monetarily that would make up for hundreds of years of abuse and unfair treatment. 

I can’t force our government to honor the treaties made with the Native Americans, which are broken whenever the government wants back what they agreed to give. 

But, I listen!  

Listening is what I have to offer as a descendant of those who murdered, as a descendant of those who raped, of those who stole from the people living here long before we showed up. 

When I was a young mother, my tiny son had a costume for Halloween given to him. It was so he could be an Indian. He looked real cute in that costume, his little blonde head with his feathered headdress and the warpaint we put on him. He was four years old. He’s now 34 years old. My how times have changed! I never thought back then that his costume was racist. Why? Because I didn’t know I was offending anyone, of course.

Until I listened.  

Once I listened, there was no way to not know.

Once I listened, I felt shocked at myself for being so oblivious to the pain of others. No, I didn’t create their pain. But, I poked at it. Made it bleed a little each time I participated in dehumanizing them, turning them into a stereotype. Turning them into a costume. Using them for my amusement and benefit. Do I feel guilty about it? No. Why? Because, once I listened, I changed. So as not to do harm to others for no reason, I changed. I am no longer a person who would have their child imitate an oppressed people for Halloween fun.

I would hate to think how Native American children felt here at Skowhegan High School each time a depiction of their culture was used as a mascot. Humiliated? Probably. Angry? Probably.  

Powerless to stop it? Yes, surely. Because the use of them as mascots wouldn’t be done if they had power to stop it.  

You have the power to stop it, Skowhegan school board. 

You have much to gain by LISTENING.Listen to their ambassadors tell you you’re offending them. Listen when they tell you they don’t feel honored. Listen to what the rest of the country has said as they, one by one, change their offensive mascots. 

Listen: Aunt Jemima syrup doesn’t use a black female slave on their bottles anymore.

Listen: Sambo’s Restaurants stopped using their decor that exaggerated negroid features of Little Black Sambo characters.

Listen: They stopped selling Darkie Toothpaste in 1989. 

Listen: The Frito Bandito , depicting Mexicans as thieves, has been run out of town. 

Listen: You are now the only school in the state of Maine that didn’t LISTEN to how offensive and racist Indian mascots are and act to undo that.

I am still listening today. 

I listened when a member of Skowhegan Indian Pride shared a sniggering joke with board member Jennifer Pelotte Poirier about him still having a scalp towel. 

I listened while that same group provokes, hangs racist signage and tries to counter Indigenous People’s Day celebrations.  

I listened at a reconciliation ceremony held each year in Norridgewock by local tribes to remember the slaughter of women and children by my ancestors. 

I listened to local townspeople rudely tell me it’s none of my business, that I should just leave if I don’t like it, though I have paid taxes to this school district for 15 years and my family has lived here since before this school district and this town began. 

It is time for you to listen. You are on the wrong side of history. 

Listen: The world is changing yet, you steadfastly refuse to change with it. 

Listen: It is no longer acceptable to mock minorities by using them for mascots. 

Listen: Hate crimes went up 17% this year. 

You don’t have to feel guilty about what your ancestors did. But, you surely should feel guilt for being told now that you’re causing harm, and still doing it anyway.

Thank you.

-- Hope Savage, Skowhegan resident 

No one spoke in favor of keeping the mascot at the last high school in Maine still insulting Native people this way. Maybe the tide has turned.