POLL: Brentwood District Considers Indian Mascot Name Change

BRENTWOOD, NY— Both schools and professional sports teams have been under pressure to change mascot names that many find offensive in recent months. The NFL's Washington Redskins announced they would change the team name in July. Debates are also raging at Long Island school districts with Native American mascot names, including East Islip and Shelter Island. Now the Brentwood Board of Education is considering a proposal to change the name of the school mascot from the longstanding Brentwood Indians.

At Wednesday night's virtual school board meeting a resolution to retire the mascot was tabled for further discussion.

Alana Gomez started a Change.org petition asking for a name change two months ago. She wrote:

"The Brentwood of today is a diversified community that takes pride in all of the cultures represented within its borders. We are a proud community of minorities. Every day we fight against the injustices that surround us in the current political climate."

"Knowing well the injustices we face and the town's deep roots for progressive thinking, its unfathomable to believe that our mascot is the Indian. Brentwood has a strong Latinx community. As mentioned prior, Columbus was a significant force in terrorizing many of our ancestors across the Americas and the Caribbean. That is why we call for the removal of the Indian as our school’s mascot. It is highly inappropriate and enforces past stereotypes of Native American labels."

The petition has received 1,170 signatures since as of Friday.

The school board resolution says the board will "survey the community and obtain community input to develop a new Brentwood nickname and mascot that will carry us forward into the future."

Do you find the current mascot name offensive? What do you think Brentwood's new mascot should be, or should it remain the same? Tell us in the comments.