East Islip High School Removes Controversial 'Redmen' Mascot Logo

EAST ISLIP, NY —East Islip's school mascot name and graphic has been controversial for years, with some alumni campaigning for a name change, alleging the "Redmen" name is offensive to Native Americans.

This week, residents noticed that the mascot image—of a man's head in a Native American head dress—was take down from East Islip High School's exterior. The words "Home of the Redmen" remained.

Patch reached out to the school district for comment but the district declined to issue any statement.

Tess Parker graduated from East Islip High School and created a Change.org petition last year asking the district to "retire the Redmen." It has since garnered 14,737 signatures.

She told Patch that the removal of the image is a good first step.

"It's a small part of what a vast majority wants, so one can only hope it's for the good of the community and an acknowledgment that East Islip is a welcoming, inclusive and safe town that has no tolerance for racism at any level."

Patch readers appear closely divided on the subject, with results of a June 2020 poll showing 54 percent of those who answered being in support of a name change.

It's unclear if the image removal is a step toward a full name change, or an intermediate step to soften what many consider offensive.

What do you think about this step to remove the image from East Islip High School? Tell us in the comments.