Free Republic

During the World Economic Forum’s annual conclave of plutocrats last week, the attendees enjoyed an exotic display of indigenous culture and their own virtue signaling of their love for “diversity.” The Catholic News Agency reports, “as part of a plenary session on Wednesday titled ‘Climate and Nature: A Systemic Response Is Needed,’ Chieftess Putanny Yawanawá of the Amazonian Yawanawá tribe . . . performed a shamanic rite.” Resplendent in her tribal garb and face-paint, she stood close to each of the several panel members’ faces, coughed, then blew on their foreheads.This show captured perfectly the condescending, patronizing attitude of the...

Radicals will never be content to tear down just the ‘Redskins’ and ‘Chiefs’ mascots. They’ll always come for the proverbial Minutemen. Leftist activists have had a heyday dutifully marching through America’s beloved institutions, tearing down history and tradition. From NFL teams to high school mascots, from band names to street signs, it seems nothing is so sacred to escape the cultural undoing. The 2020 fight to rename the Washington Redskins — which became simply the “Football Team” (so original) for two years before landing on the “Commanders” moniker — was described at the time as a crusade for wokeness, and...

A California Bay Area district board is being slammed over its costly decision to strip Concord High School of its long-standing mascot the “Minutemen.” Concord, a town roughly 30 miles outside of San Francisco, was named after Concord, Mass., the site of the famous Battles of Lexington and Concord during the America Revolutionary War. The high school is tossing the mascot named after the historic “Minutemen” who fought against the British in favor of the “Bears” following a 4-1 vote on Wednesday by the Mount Diablo Unified School District board. “It’s disgusting to disrespect those who fought and sacrificed to...

America’s never-ending quest for inclusion has now turned its attention to supposedly offensive school nicknames and mascots. Native American names are a particular target of this ire—Braves, Warriors, Chiefs together with individual tribes such as the Seminoles or Illini. The latest installment of this “anti-hate” push has occurred in New York State where these purportedly offensive names, logos, and mascots were banned in public schools as of April of 2023, or schools will lose state funding. As of March 2022, 133 New York schools had such Indian names and New York is hardly alone in exorcising allegedly hateful stereotypes. According...

Instead of the Colonials, which had been their name since 1926, the school’s teams will now be known as the Revolutionaries.

Native American mascots are being phased out around the country at every level of sports, but four Connecticut school districts are still hanging onto theirs for dear life. And it's going to cost them. School districts for Derby, Killingly, Windsor, and Woodbury/Bethlehem are choosing to defy the state law which bars schools with Native American mascots from receiving tribal funding, Alex Putterman of CT Insider reported Wednesday.

Cats were seen as omens in ancient times but eventually became trusted animal companions to those who sailed the seas. From catching rats at docks and on ships at sea, cats often became mascots to the navies around the globe. Filled with informative text and more than eighty photos, Cats in the Navy provides a fun history of our feline friends who rode the waves with us.

National outrage over George Floyd's death was particularly virulent in super-progressive ("woke") Vermont, where schools widely displayed the BLM flag beside the American flag. Unconcerned that this was a blatantly illegal government endorsement of an overtly partisan organization, proponents donned the "hear no evil from constitutionalists" earmuffs and prided themselves on agitating their neighbors by violating the Constitution. Many Vermonters have complained publicly that this is obvious abuse by government, but school officials have stonewalled, gaslighted, and suppressed all efforts to assert this axiomatic constitutional truth. The state's capital city of Montpelier shamelessly painted BLM on the road in front...

Over a year into the completion of San Diego State University’s racial healing garden, few students, scholars and staff appear to be spending time within its circumference. The $250,000 Native and Indigenous Healing Garden at the public university was built amid tensions regarding the Aztec warrior mascot, accused of racism, cultural appropriation and toxic masculinity. The healing garden is meant to honor Native Americans and the Aztec culture “at a time when we need to ‘heal’ over the issue of indigenous identities,” according to a 2018 Aztec Identity Task Force report. The garden was completed in March 2020. A grand...

The sports teams at two New Jersey high schools in Bergen County will no longer be named the Indians and Cowboys. At their two-hour virtual meeting on Monday night, the Pascack Valley Regional High School District Board of Education voted unanimously to remove the nickname of Pascack Hills, the Cowboy, and the mascot of Pascack Valley, the Indian, reported Pascack Hills Trailblazer.

The Philadelphia Phillies are doing more than just competing for a place in this year's baseball playoffs. On Friday, the club filed suit in New York federal court over an attempt to grab ownership to the "Phanatic," the team's mascot. According to the complaint, Bill Giles, Phillies' executive vp, created the vision for the mascot in the 1970s — a green, fat, furry, big-nosed character accessible to children. The team says it worked with a company called Harrison/Erickson to develop the costume for the Phanatic. The firm was paid $215,000, according to the complaint. Dave Raymond, an intern in the...

Since 1892, when a Yale student showed up at a sporting event with his pet bulldog, Handsome Dan, collegiate sidelines have been like Disney's Animal Kingdom, crawling with critters big and small, chosen to represent their school's very literal spirit animal. In the days before such acts became (thankfully) more regulated, football teams shared the field with actual bears and cougars, led around loosely with little more than leashes of rope. "When I played at Houston, ol' Shasta the cougar, he'd be right there on the sideline with a rope around his neck, looking very unhappy about it," James Mayfield,...

RUSH: Hey, the Supreme Court has handed down a decision that’s gonna have some ramifications. They have ruled for, in favor of an Asian-American rock band that calls themselves The Slants. Snerdley, you’re a big music guy. Have you ever heard of The Slants, Asian-American rock band called The Slants? I never have. You have heard of them? You like their music? Ohhh, but you’ve not heard their music, you never heard of ’em ’til the story hit? All right. Well, get this. In a win for Asian-American rock band The Slants — and this has got possible ramifications, good...

NORTH LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Travelers introduced their final mascot for the upcoming 2014 baseball season today, Gary the Rabid Raccoon. After a long search conducted by Arkansas’ minor league baseball club, the Travelers settled on three characters that grew up in Travelers lore.The first two mascots, Ace and Otey, were unveiled yesterday. Today in a special ceremony they introduced the captain of the new mascot team, Gary. All three mascots hold deep connections to the franchise they will now represent. “We are so excited to introduce Gary to our fans. I think the kids will really love him,”...

The Houston school district board has given preliminary approval to a new policy that would prohibit offensive or culturally insensitive mascots. The new policy calls on schools to show respect and cultural sensitivity in nicknames and mascots. The use of any race or ethnic group will be prohibited, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The current politically correct imbroglio over the Washington Redskins and owner Daniel Snyder’s stout refusal to appease the bloodhounds on his trail by surrendering will probably soon pass, regardless of the eventual outcome. The demands of the modern 24-hour news cycle guarantee that this will not last too long. This mini-controversy does, however, serve to illustrate the nature of the manufacturing of public opinion by the standard bearers of cultural liberalism and their allies in the mass media, circa 2013. Simply put, the Left decides that something is “offensive” and uses its media access to declare this object impermissible,...

BOB COSTAS: Think for a moment about the term Redskins and how it truly differs from all the others. Ask yourself what the equivalent would be if directed toward African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians or members of any other ethnic group. When considered that way, Redskins can't possibly honor a heritage or a noble character trait, nor can it possibly be considered a neutral term. It's an insult, a slur, no matter how benign the present day intent. It's fair to say that for a long time now, and certainly in 2013, no offense has been intended. But if you take a...

The research for today's catch-all column required a number of phone calls and emails. So I assume the National Security Agency already knows what the article will say. For the rest of you non-snoops, read on. Frog has legs: What's with Cedarburg and people's inability there to keep their hands off oversized mascots? First, the Famous Racing Italian Sausage was abducted and forced to go on a pub crawl. Now, we find out that someone swiped itsa frog (that is its apostrophe-challenged and lower-case name, itsa frog) from the bench in front of Partnership Bank. Before you send out an...

...and the chickenhawk is in.Sorry...at this point they deserve it because after all of this has gone on for so long now, the new leadership has not stepped up to clean house.

University of Mississippi students have chosen to lead the way in developing a new on-field mascot, based on results from Tuesday’s campus-wide vote.