By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Stacey Stahl, right, of Anderson High School squeezes the hand of former Anderson mascot Anthony Wurster (2003 graduate) as they listen to the Forest Hills school board. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

ANDERSON TWP. - Stacey Stahl pledged to continue fighting to revive Anderson High School's costumed Redskins mascot Monday after the Forest Hills School Board voted not to reinstate it.

Stahl, a 16-year-old senior of Inca Indian descent, wants the position, but learned that Anderson High School principal Mike Hall eliminated the job last spring after a diversity study committee made that suggestion. She asked the board to reinstate the mascot.

"I'm shocked," Stahl said after the board meeting. "I truly believed they would have listened to the community, and they did not. ... I'm willing to take any steps necessary to reinstate the mascot."

Those steps, she said, could include starting a petition drive or legal action.

The issue split the board, which voted 3-2 not to reinstate. Board members Winnie Clayton and Harry Andreadis said they thought the committee had overstepped its authority in eliminating the mascot without board approval or knowledge. They voted to reinstate the mascot.

Board president Forest Heis and member Eric Okerson said the decision was not a matter of board policy and they cannot micro-manage every decision in a school. Richard Neumann voted with them, but did not comment.

The diversity study committee, which began meeting last fall, voted not to change the school's Redskins logo/mascot, but made suggestions responding to Native American groups that were offended by the mascot's dancing and the peace pipe and tomahawk that are part of the Redskins logo. The groups said dancing and the peace pipe are part of their spiritual practices.

As a result, Hall eliminated the costumed mascot and made changes to the logo, erasing the tomahawk and peace pipe. After giving the committee's report to the board in March, the board did not comment, Hall said.

"I took that as an OK to move ahead and authorized those changes in April," he said. "The changes the committee recommended did not change the (overall) logo/mascot used at Anderson High School for the past 60 years."

About 70 people attended the meeting, and 11 spoke - most in favor of keeping the mascot. It was a smaller crowd than in 1999, when the school board voted unanimously to keep the controversial Redskins name. Hundreds of people attended then, and 44 spoke.

Stahl told the board Monday that the mascot isn't derogatory toward Native Americans, but represents a message of the people who occupied the land before us.

"They are the people being forgotten, their traditions, their beliefs, and everything about them," she said. "Let our mascot serve as a reminder."

Edward Simone graduated from Anderson High School, as did his son. His daughter is there now. Simone, who is part American Indian, said he was proud to be a Redskin. But as much as it hurts, it may be time to change the name and mascot, he said.

"Nowadays, I see other full-blooded Indians growing up without the advantages I had," he said. "They are the ones being offended. I was brought up right. I was brought up to consider other people's feelings."

Anderson High School is not the only school scrutinized by Native American groups for its team nickname.

More than 2,500 elementary and secondary schools nationwide bear sports team names, logos and mascots offensive to Native Americans, according to the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media, based in Minneapolis.

No representative of any Native American organization spoke at the school board meeting.

Names deemed offensive

For years, professional, college and high school sports team with Native American names, mascots and practices have been criticized by the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media and by Native American groups. Among them:

Anderson High School Redskins

Atlanta Braves and the Tomahawk Chop

Cleveland Indians and Chief Wahoo

Florida State Seminoles and Chief Osceola

Marquette (Michigan) High School Redmen and Redettes

Miami University Redskins (changed to RedHawks in 1997)

Salmon (Idaho) High School Savages

University of Illinois' Chief Illiniwek

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux

Washington Redskins

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E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com