I grew up in Killingly and graduated from Killingly High School. Though I live in Virginia now, I was recently informed that the Killingly High mascot is again up for debate. I myself was a "R*dmen" athlete all four years of high school, playing basketball and golf, which means my closet once included a small collection of Killingly jerseys, T-shirts and polos. When I left Killingly, I was proud to wear these around so that I could represent our town wherever I happened to be. However, it soon became clear to me that however I felt about the mascot, the word (and sometimes image) that appeared on these clothes was hurtful to many of the people who saw it. Today, the only piece of Killingly High gear is my closet is a reversible warm-up jersey that I always turn inside-out before I play.

Many people who defend the mascot say that to them it is a symbol of respect. I believe them and understand their perspective. I also encourage them to consider the perspective of those who see it as a symbol of something else: genocide. It's not an overstatement that this is what had to happen in order for the town of Killingly to exist. How many of those who defend the mascot in the name of respect know that our holiday of Thanksgiving has as much to do with the 1636 "Mystic Massacre" of 700 Pequots as it does with the 1621 feast in Plymouth? How many know that English settlers not only enslaved people native to Eastern Connecticut but also sold them South to be slaves in places like Jamaica and Barbados, clearing the land for towns like Killingly? This is the history that the "R*dmen" mascot invokes, whether we intend for it to or not. It's also a history that, at least in my time, was totally erased from Killingly High's classrooms, even as we claimed to respect its victims.

If the mascot hurts even a single person who belongs to the tribes of Eastern Connecticut — and we know it does — it should be changed yesterday. I don't know how anyone who claims to have "respect" for these people can justify anything else. I know that many of the people who defend the mascot talk about having pride in our school, but for many of us, the mascot is an obstacle to pride, rather than a symbol of it.

I know that many of the people who defend the mascot talk about having pride in our school, but for many of us, the mascot is an obstacle to pride, rather than a symbol of it.

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