Metro-Atlanta high school alum pushing for Redskins mascot name change

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    Atlanta, GA (WGCL) — Washington’s NFL team succumbed to public and financial pressure…retiring the Redskins name and logo.

Some alumni from a local high school, with the same name, are urging their school district to drop it as well.

“A lot of native people refer to as the R word, because it is a derogatory term,” said Adoris Gibbs, a Social Circle High School Alum.

Some Social Circle High School alumnae are asking their former school district to change the mascot – the Redskins… a name many consider to be racist and offensive to Native Americans.

“We’ve had various community members, teachers, current students, and alumni send emails to the board of education,” Gibbs added.

The Assistant Superintendent of Social Circle City Schools told CBS46’s Melissa Stern in a statement, “we understand the importance of this conversation and will continue listening to both sides. We are currently working to formalize a process to consider requests for a change of our mascot.”

“I’ve certainly seen an openness, but I have not seen action,” said Kelsey Provow, another Social Circle High School Alum.

And while there are many people who want to see the change, these alumnae say there are plenty of people who don’t, and they’ve been met with a lot of pushback.

“Yes, this is a mascot, but it’s far bigger than the mascot,” Gibbs said.

The Washington Redskins officially retired their controversial name and Indian head logo, but a new name has not yet been released.

There is also talk here in Atlanta about replacing the Braves name.

The baseball team says there are no plans to change it but will reexamine the use of the “tomahawk chop” cheer.

“We’re seeing changes occur with Aunt Jemima, Land of Oaks, and confederate monuments coming down,” added Gibbs.

And while those fighting for these changes know nothing will happen overnight, they feel there’s no better time to speak out than the present, given everything going on in our country.

“If we allow this to continue, what other wrongs are we going to allow to occur within our school system, within our community, and within our broader national community,” said Gibbs.

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