Please sign and share this petition to tell Coachella high school in Southern California that Arabs are not an acceptable school mascot. It appears that using a particular culture and individual as a school mascot is a form of discrimination against that particular society. The campus designed this piece of “art” because of an infatuation with the Middle East but the insignia is drawing great controversy. The school believes itself to be the Coachella Valley Arabs when it comes to their sports teams. However, most people believe that an Arab does not make for a good mascot, especially in the Arab-American community.
Officials against this type of mascot claims that a school district is teaching kids to stereotype a certain culture similar to this angry-looking insignia when "they’re supposed to be teaching kids to respect other cultures,” as stated by Abed Ayoub, legal and policy director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). He says that the mascot is harmful and demeaning to Arab-Americans.
The problem is that the mascot has been around for many years and appears on everything at Coachella, from uniforms to the basketball court. The history of the mascot dates back to when the Department of Agriculture officials traveled to the Middle East and brought back date palm shoots, which flourished where the school came to be and beyond throughout Los Angeles. Rather than choosing the Palms as an insignia, there is mixed controversy as to the use of an Arab as the mascot since it was not originally thought of as offensive.
However, many do believe it to be sensitive and depict racial and ethnic stereotypes. Those of concern are hoping for a resolution amicable to all. Mr. Ayoub says "The fact that this is not malicious leads me to believe that we can reach some sort of understanding and agreement with the school board and city as to a name change and change of mascot. I think the first thing is to have the opportunity to meet with the school board and other decision makers directly and explore the options on how we can resolve this.”
Please sign and share this petition to tell Coachella high school in Southern California that Arabs are not an acceptable school mascot.
