LOCAL
Anna Colletto, The Oklahoma Eagle
Mascots based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion are now banned in Tulsa Public Schools. Photo: Matthew Perez/The Oklahoma Eagle
Mascots based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion are now banned in Tulsa Public Schools, but the fate of Central and Webster mascots remains undecided.
The TPS board voted Monday to prohibit “discriminatory” school branding and mascots, a policy first proposed — and hotly contested — at its August meeting. The policy doesn’t ban existing mascots. Instead, the board voted for Superintendent Ebony Johnson to present revised replacements at a future board meeting.
“When I think about what we are putting forward today, it allows us to merge our history and our understanding of what it means to embrace another culture’s history,” Johnson said.
Each mascot vote passed 6-1, with board member E’Lena Ashley voting against the policy itself and the two proposals for mascot revisions.
The district will now host a series of community listening sessions on revisions beginning at 6 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Charles C. Mason Education Service Center. The full schedule had not yet been published as of Monday night.
Central Middle and High schools use arrowhead images in their logos. Webster Middle and High schools use an Indigenous man’s face in logos and the football team enters the field through an inflatable tipi. This imagery has spurred years of debate and discussion from parents, alumni, students and Tulsa’s Indigenous nations.
Many Central and Webster alumni filled the Aug. 18 TPS board meeting to speak against the policy and returned on Monday.
“When you remove these things, you not only erase the history of our school, you erase Native American history in the future,” said Susan Coman, a Webster alum opposing the policy. “Instead of the Native American school pride you see here today and at the last school board meeting, you’ll probably have apathy and no alumni support at all.”
Coman suggested Webster take up something similar to Oklahoma State University’s “Camp Cowboy” to teach the history behind the logo.
Unlike the last meeting, several residents spoke in favor of the policy, with many responding directly to previous public comments.
“These mascots don’t honor my heritage,” TPS alumnus and Choctaw citizen Nico Brown said. “These mascots erase our humanity as we amalgamate into a doll for your football games.”
Teresa Parker said she faced intense bullying and harassment for her Native heritage and features during her time as a TPS student.
“This is the type of behavior that happens when people reduce our children to being a caricature of what they have seen, either in media or just as school mascots,” Parker, who now works as a TPS Indian education resource advisor, said tearfully. “I hope and pray that my son doesn’t feel the sting and the scars that are given for being dehumanized.”
TPS student and Cherokee citizen Audrey Gray implored the board to “think about the next seven generations” of Indigenous students who need celebration regardless of the school’s branding.
“We are not your mascots,” Gray said.
