Let The Healing Begin #NotYourMascot

Students peruse a handout prepared by Allison Dorko on policies governing school board ethics during an executive session for the board to receive legal advice. (My photo)

In weighted voting representing the populations of each town in MSAD 54, the school board agreed to retire the Indian mascot for all the schools in the district last night in Skowhegan.

Here's the roll call:

YEA -- total 558
Sarah Bunker (who made the motion to "respectfully retire" the mascot), Mercer, 16 votes
Maryellen Charles, Mercer, 16 votes
Jeannie Conley, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Derek Ellis, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Haley Fleming, Norridgewock, 46 votes
Theresa Howard, Cornville, 30 votes
Christy Johnson, Smithfield, 27 votes
Desiree Libby, Norridgewock, 46 votes
Peggy Lovejoy, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Brandy Morgan, Norridgewock, 46 votes
Dixie Ring, Canaan, 43 votes
Amy Rouse, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Darcy Surette, Cornville, 30 votes
Kathy Wilder, Norridewock, 46 votes

NAY -- total 441
Mark Bedard, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Harold Bigelow, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Jean Franklin, Canaan, 43 votes
Goff French, Smithfield, 27 votes
Richard Irwin, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Jennifer Poirier, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Lynda Quinn, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Karen Smith, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Todd Smith, Skowhegan, 53 votes

Using a tightly organized meeting format, the board began with an executive session to confer with their attorney (again). Then they reconvened in public and each member had an opportunity to express an opinion on the issue. Board members were limited to three minutes, could not cede their time to another member, and could not debate with one another under their own rules for the evening.

Board members Irwin, Morgan and Surette passed on the opportunity to speak.

Some highlights of other board members' remarks:

Bunker observed that, whether one liked the name "Indians" or not, it was clear that "it's divisive...the name does not benefit our community." She expressed a hope to "not do further harm" and, like many on the board, cited the resources consumed by the mascot controversy.

Libby also mentioned resources and the need to model "the same relational skills that I teach my kids...We must do better, and we must move on." She also noted of an idea floated by Todd Smith that deferring the mascot decision to a referendum "feels cowardly."

Mr. Smith also said "this is not a taxpayer issue. If you don't live in this district, you don't get a vote."

His wife, Karen Smith, shared her misguided opinion that "being offended...is a personal belief" (my note: a common misconception engendered by white privilege) and asked, "Why are we being bullied to change?"

Howard said that she believed the board ought to "lead by example" by being "kind and respectful to others." She wanted to "provide our children with a controversy-free mascot."

(My photo)

Bedard said that he was "appalled at the anger this issue has created in the community" and, in a spectacularly tone deaf choice of words, finished with "Skowhegan is my reservation."

Newest member Wilder said "today's kids deserve to have a mascot not based on race."

Chair Ring indicated she would "vote for all the kids" and noted they "have the right to come to school and be safe." She also noted of the mascot controversy that "I feel very bullied," but  she did not elaborate on who or what she had in mind.

Rouse noted that she often travels with the high school speech team (state champs this year, and not for the first time). At these events "the majority of educators who talk to me say 'Why can't your board change?' The kids hear it...[and it] affects how they think about themselves."

Lovejoy said "I believe there are good people on both sides of this issue" and observed that even if the mascot was "okay in 1924 [when it was first adopted], it's not okay now."

Board members Quinn and Bigelow both spoke in an aggressive (and aggrieved) tone, and were cheered and applauded by SIP supporters despite board chair Dixie Ring's admonition that there be no responses from the audience. 

Bigelow complained loudly that "people from away come in here to stir up trouble" and claimed that Native students receive "free tuition" while his own son struggles to pay his college bills. (This is probably a misunderstanding of the land grant used to establish the University of Maine at Orono, which was ceded by the Penobscot Nation in 1865 in exchange for educational opportunities.)

Quinn offended LBGTQ students in attendance by mispronouncing the word "homosexual" with drawn out emphasis on the first two syllables. The point she was making by mentioning a long list of groups was obscure; I will have to listen again to her comments once Somerset Community TV 11 posts a full video of the meeting.

Poirier made the most ironic remarks of the evening as she only recently invited national pro-mascot group NAGA to Skowhegan. They are about as away as you can get. Poirier read aloud a letter from alumna Christine Keller and also added that she had personally"spoken to 78 tribal members" locally "and they're not offended."

Pretty much the only thing I will miss about the campaign to retire the "Indian" is pre-board meeting dinners at M. Thai restaurant in downtown Skowtown. (My photos)

Ellis spoke of some of the harassment he experienced during the controversy. He also noted, "Pride lives within each and every one of us. That can't be taken away."

Emotions were running high as the vote was tallied. Five police officers, including the chief, patrolled the central aisle between a large number of Skowhegan "Indian Pride" supporters and changers.

But the crowd reaction to the voting results was fairly muted. Mild applause and some grumbling were all it amounted to. Several changers teared up and hugged one another after years of working for the mascot's retirement.

As I was getting into my car a large blonde woman called out, "Lisa, make sure to say in your blog that this isn't over." I responded, "Thanks for reading my blog," and I'm including her opinion here as a courtesy to a regular reader.

But I believe she was wrong.

The struggle to retire the mascot is over, at long last.

I look forward to seeing what new identity Skowhegan teams will be forging in the year to come.

The Pen Is A Mighty Change Agent

Among the idealistic beliefs I cling to, sometimes in the face of fierce opposition, is the power of information.

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is something I wanted to believe when I was young, and studying history and current events has strengthened this conviction.

Other ways I've learned of expressing this belief include "You can't kill an idea whose time has come" as well as the proverb of indigenous people of Mexico:



With those thoughts in mind, today I'll share the latest crop of opinion pieces and letters to the editor calling for the retirement of the Skowhegan high school "Indian" mascot/team name.

The first is from The Maine Campus, student newspaper of the University of Maine, Orono. It's a well-researched and well-written op-ed by Liz Theriault. "Maine high schools should consider harmful impacts of Native American Mascots." An excerpt:

No one understands the painful history of a culture more than those whose ancestors endured it. USA Today reported that high schools across the nation started adopting Indian team names around the 1920s and 1930s, the same time that the use of Native language or the practice of Native religion was banned. The Civilization Fund Act of 1819 provided federal funding to boarding schools designed to assimilate Native Americans into white culture. While these egregious acts were being forced upon Natives, and as they were banned from practicing their cultures, students wore feathers, mocked chants and offensively danced on the sidelines of sports games.

I look forward to reading more from Liz Theriault in the years to come!


The next two letters were published today in the Waterville Morning Sentinel and the Kennebec Journal, sister newspapers serving the area that contains the sprawling district MSAD 54.

"Skowhegan's mascot fight is costly" was sent in by Abby Norling, a retired special ed teacher whom I taught with many years ago in Oakland. An excerpt:

With the school budget season upon us, I can’t help but wonder what else $15,000 could buy for students — perhaps new books, science lab equipment, or busing to tournaments? New uniforms have also been suggested, but that’s not a pressing need, since SAHS team uniforms don’t say the team name on them and haven’t for years. 

As a former board member myself, I also worry about potential future legal actions, and what that might cost taxpayers. Prudent management of the district’s scarce resources for education would seem to suggest that retiring the team name soon would be a financially responsible thing, as well as just the right thing to do.

"SAD 54 Board should listen to tribes" by Ernie Hilton brings his perspective as an attorney into play by pointing out which groups are and aren't credible when they claim to speak for Maine's Natives. An excerpt:

...the governing bodies of the four sovereign tribes noted above [Penobscot Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, Houlton Band of Maliseets and the Micmacs], having as they do the legal right to represent the interests of the larger diaspora of their members, have engaged in a deliberative process and arrived at a conclusion — a conclusion mind you which is based on a great deal of unrefuted scientific evidence that the use of “Indian” symbology, whether termed as a mascot or otherwise, is damaging to their members.  They have appointed official ambassadors to present this request.

Interested parties may want to join us to maintain a presence at the MSAD 54 board meetings.

Alumna Tamarleigh Grenfell at the last board meeting. I particularly like the message on her yellow sign. The acronym SAHS on her pink sign stands for Skowhegan Area High School.

The next meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, February 28 at 7pm in the Skowhegan Area Middle School cafeteria (link to Facebook event with more info here). An item to decide on how to proceed on the mascot issue is on the agenda, but it's very unlikely a vote will occur this week.

If you'd like to share some information or reasoning with the school board directors, a handy copy and paste list of their email addresses can be found here.

Skowhegan Elementary Teacher: Many Teachers Want Mascot Retired, But Board Does Not Listen To Us

As the adult child of an alcoholic, I experience stress around listening to excuses. Ironically, for the last 25 years I've worked as a public school teacher and listening to excuses is part of the job. 

This condition of mine made it challenging to go door-to-door in Skowhegan last Sunday. 

My canvassing partner and I listened to several versions of stuff white people say when they are excusing their own failure to show up for racial justice. 

The gist of what they told us went something like this: I am in my [white privilege] comfort zone and I won't do anything that might take me out of that zone. 

Of course no one actually used the words white privilege. Its tremendous power rests on its pervasive yet invisible nature.

The person who articulated it best shared that they only leave online political comments under a disguised name. They gave the example that they are against Trump, but if they had a bumper sticker that was anti-Trump, someone would trash their car. This person also thought the mascot controversy was fairly new and was quite surprised to find that Native people have been requesting that it change since 1990. They characterized the eventual retirement of the "Indian" team name as inevitable, but they weren't sure if it would take another 5 or even 10 years. And they certainly weren't going to help hasten the process even though they freely admitted it would be the right thing to stop being offensive in the 21st century.

I don't see why this is a problem, is what several of the less politically aware folks told canvassers. Many others stated that they were of two minds, that they could see both sides, clearly feeling that this was the perfect excuse not to get involved.

We hope the mascot will have retired by spring, and we await the February 28 school board meeting with interest.

However, if the pretendians are still around come spring, then we'll canvass again. As we did last Sunday, we'll offer information on the local history of Native people, why the American Psychological Association found Native mascots harmful to all students, and copies of lovely posters reminding us that we are on indigenous land.

Summary of Door Notes Sheets

Skowhegan canvass Feb. 10, 2019

TOTAL RESPONSES: 18

FOR CHANGE: 7 (39%)

AGAINST CHANGE: 2 (11%)

NEUTRAL/ SEE BOTH SIDES / IDK: 9 (50%)

1. Support, concerned with how we get there
2. Support, has high school kids
3. Saw both side, no kids
4. Yes!!!
5. Yes!!!
6. Thinks stay same, a middle school kid
7. Didn’t open door, wants to keep mascot, gave public comment
8. Hadn’t heard much, in support of change, not interested in being involved
9. No opinion, no convo
10. 50/50, went to the high school, receptive, took our handouts
11. 50/50, thinks we should educate, we’re doing good work, husband’s school in Sanford changed name. Did not want to sign anything or take papers. Seemed a little defensive/cautious. Doesn’t think mascot was initially meant to upset anyone.
12. Not down to talk
13. Supportive / but attached to name. The longer we spoke the more he was convinced. “If we change this, we’ll have to change more.” Thought mascot was degrading but not name.
14. Sympathetic, not willing to take action.
15. Didn’t know much about the controversy, talked about pride, took historical info & Hope’s essay
16. Haven’t given it much thought, don’t see why the controversy is “so ugly”
17. Did not engage
18. In favor of change, Skowhegan elementary school teacher, said many teachers want change but school board doesn’t listen to staff

I find #18 particularly compelling. MSAD 54 school board directors, are you listening?

How Much Courage Does It Take To Overcome Our White Privilege And Show Up For Racial Justice?

Me with Skowhegan alumni Tamarleigh Grenfell and Nancy Blaisdell Baxter at last night's school board meeting. Photo credit: Abby Chandler

A few of us were at the Skowhegan school board meeting last night to advocate for changing the "Indian" mascot. Some of us brought signs and, as we entered, a Skowhegan "Indian Pride" supporter who has been harassing me online and at my place of employment was stationed next to the entrance with his SIP sign. A blond woman I don't know went past us and snarled that there is no mascot. My friend and former school board member Abby Chandler responded by suggesting she look up mascot in the dictionary. We entered the meeting to find a sea of empty chairs. It was bad weather again but nothing like the ice storm on the night of the public forum January 8.

The chair of the board approached us an introduced herself, warning us that no public comments about the mascot would be allowed. At that point I had to decide whether to stick with my strategy of focusing on legal costs -- I'd written to Dixie Ring and her superintendent about a month ago asking what the budget is for legal advice around the mascot issue, and if they have expended all those funds yet. Others who weren't able to be there were urging a focus on the legal issue of whether the board can silence comments from the public. I decided to go with my gut and stick to my original plan, partly because I knew the meeting would end with an executive session to consult their attorney about what else. 

We are hearing that several board members are nervous about lawsuits stemming from discrimination against Native people and harassment of "changers" as the SIP people call us.

So I told Chairperson Ring that I intended to ask a financial question about legal costs. She remembered my email and appeared to care that I had never received a reply. She scurried back to the superintendent and then returned to tell me that Drummond Woodsum is on retainer but as to additional costs incurred the superintendent would respond to my query soon. As taxpayers in their school district, my friend Abby Chandler and  I really do have a right to know how they spend our money.

When the Visitors part of the agenda was reached, SAHS art teacher Iver Lofving stood up and made a brilliant presentation that showed a lot of courage as an employee of the district. Without ever directly mentioning the mascot problem, Iver cited the fact that, due to retirement of an instructor last year, 50 students who signed up for digital photography this year had been denied that opportunity to learn. He noted that the school is poised to decide what it will become, and that becoming an arts academy -- or perhaps a STEAM academy, he later told us -- would make Skowhegan Area High School attractive to prospective students. What shall we become? he asked the board. How can we face forward and not backwards?

Iver is a very creative person, and it was not the first time that his remarks about changing the mascot have impressed me as offering a unique perspective that focuses on possible solutions. Iver and his family have been harassed quite a bit over the years for his courage in taking a stand for the environment and for racial justice.

I then raised my hand and was recognized, and asked if I was going to speak about the mascot so they could silence me in advance. I said no but I wanted to ask if the moderator of the January forum was from Drummond Woodsum. They said yes, and Abby reported that the attorney waiting to go into executive session with them beamed.

I don't know what the retainer fee covers but my guess is that traveling to Skowhegan and spending several hours moderating a public forum would be an incremental expense.

Maulian Dana, Penobscot Nation ambassador, at the January 8 public forum on the mascot problem.

Then, one of my online harassers came forward and stood right next to me, having drink taken, to address the board about his children and his fiance's children busing issues. They live part of the week in one town and part in another town, and their parents want them to be transported to a different elementary school than the one they are supposed to attend based on their address. This was a lengthy complaint with many bureaucratic-type responses from school employees.

No other visitors spoke that I recall. There were no reporters present last night that I could recognize as such.

The most substantive thing to come out of the meeting was a decision to designate their next teacher workshop day on March 11 as a student seat day so that storm cancellations don't render seniors short of days when graduation rolls around. The teacher training will be moved to the end of the school calendar.

The most substantive thing that happened at the meeting, though, occurred in executive session after all in the audience were sent out of the room, including the police officer.

We await word on what Drummond Woodsum told MSAD 54 about their liabilities in the matter of their racist mascot and the behaviors it enables. 

Tamerleigh Grenfell   Photo credit: Abby Chandler

At the public forum on January 8 board member Harold Bigelow reportedly got into the face of Maulian (pronounced Molly-un) Dana, the Penobscot Nation ambassador, and said loudly "Hello MOO-lawn." Those who observed him do this (I did not) were surprised that was allowed to pass without a legal response. Or maybe there was a response that we're not yet aware of? Anyway, we can be pretty sure that the district's lawyers have some thoughts on that sort of thing.

I have not yet made any formal complaints about the husband of a school board member and SIP leader contacting my employers to complain about me writing this blog, to slander me by claiming I bully children, and to threaten my employers with a lawsuit if they don't rein me in. Also I have not addressed that someone (I think it is the same man) linked my blog to a girl-on-girl pornography website that same week.

There's nothing on my hard drive that I'm ashamed of or need to conceal, but I'm guessing the same could not be said by my harasser. An old school friend of mine who went to law school commented that he is leaving a paper trail of crimes, some of which could be felonies. My other legal advisers have said not to worry about the email to my employers, as retaliation to a public employee for exercising 1st amendment rights is unconstitutional, and there are many precedents establishing this.

It is uncomfortable to show up for racial justice. It can be scary and at times actually dangerous. I will keep doing it anyway. If you wished you had lived during the civil rights era of the 1960's and wondered what you would have done then to stand up to racism, you are living in a civil rights era now. And, you're doing it.

The next MSAD 54 board meeting will be held February 28 at 7pm in the middle school cafeteria. If ever a school board needed watching, this one does. See you there.

Outrage Over Blackface Is Enough To Unseat A Governor, But Pretendians Are OK?

Yearbook photo from Skowhegan High School in the 1970's

It's anybody's guess what day this week the governor of Virginia will resign over his college nickname "Coonman" (which the Urban Dictionary defines as a person who does not like Black people) and his photo in blackface. 

The photo from Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook page is actually even worse than just blackface, because his companion in the pic is dressed in a Ku Klux Klan hooded robe. Northam has issued a series of denials and obfuscations typical of powerful men caught in wrongdoing and impulsive enough to talk to reporters before consulting an expensive PR firm for advice. (Even Covington teen Nick Sandmann knew better than that.)

So Northam will eventually resign from being the governor of Virginia. 

University of Virginia students under attack on campus in Charlottesville August, 2017

You may recall that Virginia is the state where Charlottesville permitted a white supremacist rally in 2017 that featured violent attacks on random black people, and death by hit and run of white racial justice worker Heather Heyer.

What exactly is the difference between appearing in blackface and appearing in "redface", feathers and "war paint" as pretendians?

Skowhegan High School yearbook photo from the 1970's

Ok, one difference might be that these pretendians are in high school 50 years ago and may not have known any better at the time.

However, their yearbook advisor(s) were adults being paid to oversee their education. Where is their responsibility here? Here are some yearbook covers from Skowhegan High School that play around with the pretendian motif.

This one is a little hard to see. It depicts a pretendian who appears to be praying while seated on a horse. Because when you're appropriating other people's culture and identity you can just make stuff up, and you don't really need to learn about how they actually got around for thousands of years before European invaders came to this area. (Hint: who invented the canoe?).

Multiple Skowhegan Indian Pride supporters have testified that they honor "Indians" by using them as a mascot or team name. Actual Penobscot, Passamoqoddy, Mi'kmaq and Maliseet people have said for decades now that they do not feel honored by these cartoonish depictions. Or by teenagers dressed in "war paint" using "war whoops" and displaying imitation feathers or pipes that are considered sacred and used in ceremony.

What is the difference between blackface and dressing up as pretend Indians? Not much as far as I can see.

When you don't know any better, you do it. As my sister Hope explained in her essay "I Do Not Have White Guilt," when you learn more and realize it is wrong, you stop doing it. And you apologize to those you've offended.

And then, you don't do it anymore.

EDITED 2/4/19 5:42am  It appears from my stats on Blogger that someone is sharing my blog via a porn website. If you came here from 

the content of this blog is probably going to be disappointing.

We Have A Name, Bestowed By Skowhegan So-Called Indian Pride: We Are Changers!

Brewer High School's mascot logo

Organizing for social change can be tiring. Especially in Maine, where 50% of our winter plans go astray as the weekly (or twice weekly) storms brought on by climate change necessitate canceling events like a door to door campaign. As an organizer I often have several precious hours already invested in an event that gets snowed out.

So that is one of the reasons that local people don't often take a leading role in changing the Skowhegan Area High School mascot from pretendians to something fun and inoffensive. Osprey anyone? (I think it's most likely they will change to Patriots, but any mascot based on human beings is likely to be problematic.)

This is a comment thread on SIP leader and conflict-of-interest board member Jennifer Poirier's post about the Skowhegan girls basketball team beating the Brewer High School Witches. I am going to assume that Mary Compton calling them "ho" is a typo and that she meant to type "go." I am also going to assume that Mindy Gilbert doesn't know that there is a sizeable Wiccan community in our area, one that proudly draws on what they call "Old Traditions of Witchcraft," and that some members may very well be offended by Brewer's mascot.

Probably Mindy did not major in history, and thus may be only dimly aware that many alleged witches were tortured to death in New England. There are towns like Salem, Massachsetts that have built an entire tourist industry on this history.

The real point here is that SIP folks think it is hilarious to offend people.

And, to return to my original point, it is exhausting trying to reason with people who find it fun to offend. For white people like me, there is the option to walk away from the problem muttering that you can't fix stupid. But it isn't stupidity, it's ignorance. And not knowing is an entirely different thing from not being capable of understanding.

Consider this SIP post in the same thread, from a political theorist posting as Joseph Pais:

Pais has a Facebook profile that includes a MAGA hat child pissing on the word Hillary (Clinton, presumably) from 2016, so it would appear that his analytical chops have developed over the last couple of years.

"Leaving race out of the argument they [changers] have no foundation to stand on" starts down a strategic path that does afford some insight. White man says: we refuse to talk about race. That's white privilege in a nutshell.

White privilege turns the corner to white supremacy when it says: "that's when you see the real racist in this argument come out."

They are talking about Penobscot tribal ambassador Maulian Dana here, whom they have demonized to the point where I'm surprised Joseph Pais hasn't photoshopped his MAGA hat meme to swap out Hillary for Maulian. It's likely that some in SIP have thought about it.

However, they have a mole in their closed Facebook group, and they know for certain that an image like that would turn up not only in this blog but also in newspapers and t.v. channels in Maine.

Pretending that Maulian "stands alone" despite the enormous turnout of Native people from several Wabanaki tribes, and that she is just doing it for attention, are common themes for SIP.

The reference above alleging that she "doesn't keep her word" means this, I think: the school board voted 11-9 in 2015 to keep using the racist mascot, and the SIP folks imagined that Maulian and the other changers had agreed to slink away, silenced, if the school board vote went against them.

Key point from Jennifer's post above: it's not the institutionalized racism that is causing turmoil, it's commenting on the racism. White silence is required to maintain the status quo. Got it.

Would it surprise you to know that some changers on the board were threatened with physical harm because they voted to retire the Indian mascot? Some had the courage and good enough health to continue serving on the school board anyway. Not all have been up to the continuous, arduous task.

In fact, Not Your Mascot chapters in Maine and throughout North America have made it perfectly clear that they will not be silenced. And that they will not go away until all the Native mascots and team names are in the dustbin of history.

I stand with them. And I'm not going away either, no matter how weary I get.

White Privilege On Display In Skowhegan Mascot Controversy Is Ugly

White privilege on display in the Skowhegan mascot controversy has not been particularly appealing.

Firstly, there is the business owned and operated by an actual member of the school board that oversees Skowhegan Area High School and its team names. Maine Fire Equipment owner Todd Smith advertises many products with the name and cartoonish depictions of "Indian" human beings on them.

Screenshot from Maine Fire Equipment website provided by Ann McMichael

I shared some of the racist imagery from their website in an open letter I wrote to both Smiths (wife Karen is on the board also) pointing out that they might have a financial interest in voting on issues related to the team name/mascot. I later found out that both of them had in fact voted against holding a public forum on the mascot issue which took place on January 8.

The only feedback I got from the board or this local business is that Todd's employee Jessica Pinkham asked politely that I take down the screenshot with her elementary school age daughter wearing an Indians scarf. And I did that on my online post of the letter. (A redacted version of my screenshot can be seen above.)

So, it's okay for a white parent to use her child's photo to sell merchandise that is harmful to other people's children, but it's not okay to use the child's photo in an argument about why board members who profit from selling racist merchandise are unqualified to vote on the issue. Got it.

The Skowhegan "Indian Pride" group has made it abundantly clear that they feel is also okay to disregard and even insult Native parents who argue that the stereotyping represented by continued use of mascot is harmful to their children.

Several of them called the Penobscot Nation tribal office this week to demanding to speak to "someone with a brain" i.e. not the tribal ambassador Maulian Dana. SIP leader Jennifer Poirier, also a board member, emailed Penboscot chief Kirk Francis to say that the tribe would be subject to a lawsuit unless he reined in Maulian on the mascot retirement campaign.

Then came the comment thread on this article by Doug Harlow about a bill introduced in the new legislature sponsored by Rep. Ben Collings, An Act to Ban Native American Mascots in Maine Schools (LR 2188). I was quoted in the article saying that a lot more education about Maine Native history and culture is needed in Skowhegan. This is a screenshot from part of the thread:

Disclaimer: I do not now nor have I ever had "something to do" with the prestigious summer residency art program founded by, among others, the late social realist artist Ben Shahn.

Another disclaimer: I am unaware of any effort to change the team name to Savage's [sic], as was alleged by this Facebook post with an unidentified photo of gratuitous violence (presumably committed by Natives because of the arrows?).

The reason that violent language and imagery is dangerous is that hearing hate speech primes your brain for hateful actions. 

A study by cognitive psychologists at at Arizona State University goes a long way toward explaining a persistent aspect of hate crimes: they are virtually always preceded by hate speech. Rehearsing an act of violence activates the very same neural pathways in the brain as actually committing the same act of violence. Thus, all genocides are preceded by a long campaign of violent language against the targeted group.

Fragile white people will no doubt attack me again for using the r-word to describe their actual cultural appropriation of the images and ceremonial objects of people that survived attempted genocide.

More education is also needed about white privilege -- why it exists, and how it works.

For those interested in learning more than they know, here's a good place to start. "White fragility: why it's so hard to talk to white people about racism" by Dr. Robin DiAngelo can be read and pondered at The Good Men Project website.