PORT TOWNSEND— The Port Townsend School Board voted unanimously on Monday night to retire the Redskins as a team name and mascot for the high school, following more than an hour of impassioned testimony that slanted heavily to keeping the name.
“No one believes the Redskins name and symbol are intentionally hurtful or disrespectful toward Native Americans,” said board member Ann Burkhart, who made the motion.
“But I fail to see how a symbol, even a revered symbol, that is generally acknowledged to be divisive can be helpful in preparing students for success in the increasingly connected and collaborative 21st Century.”
The decision follows a year-long process where a study group gathered information about the impact of “Redskins” and recommended to the School Board that the name “should be retired with honor and dignity.”
About 275 people attended the meeting in the high school auditorium, many routinely cheering speakers who opposed the name change and booing those who took an opposing view.
After the vote, some in the the crowd yelled out Redskins cheers and shouted down the board’s discussion until board chair Jennifer James Wilson called for order.
The text of Burkhart’s unanimously approved motion by the six-member board:
“Recognizing that the ‘Redskins’ name and logo has a long, cherished history with Port Townsend High School and its alumni, the School Board also recognizes that it is a divisive issue for the school, community and region.
“I move that, in the next 12 months,the School Board retire this name with honor and dignity, and a student- and community based process to replace it be conducted.”
After the vote was taken, some members of the crowd were heard saying that all of the school board members would be voted out, and that future board meetings will be disrupted with Redskins’ cheers.
