California school retires divisive Arab mascot

[alp227]

Source: AP

THERMAL, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California high school has retired a controversial Arab mascot.

The bearded, snarling mascot with a large hooked nose who wears a head scarf did not appear at Coachella Valley High School's season opening football game on Friday. A belly-dancing genie that often appears with the mascot during halftime was also retired.

The Desert Sun reports the change was among the steps the Coachella Valley Unified School District is taking to give the mascot a makeover.

The Arab mascot has existed since the 1920s to recognize the desert region's reliance on date farming, a traditionally Middle Eastern crop. Over the years, the mascot evolved from a turban-wearing horseman carrying a lance to a standing figure with a scowl and a traditional head covering.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/california-school-retires-divisive-arab-mascot

[yuiyoshida]

1. um...okay... wow.

Not exactly complementary ... at all.

[rpannier]

2. Reading the article I have to say he's not as bad as the halftime show

A belly dancer

on edit: She was also retired

[demwing]

4. Is there something inherently wrong with belly dancing?

or is it just the venue?

[rpannier]

11. With the Mascot it plays into the Harem stereotype nt

[bvf]

3. WHAT??

At first I took the pic as a still from "Borat."

Poe's Law wins again.

[Sunlei]

5. Things were different in the 1920s

[happyslug]

7. So was the mascot, he had a horse and a lance in the 1920s

Someone did not like keeping a horse and training a rider, so someone replaced the Man on a horse.

Here are some photos on men on a Horse with a Lance:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent_pegging





Since we are talking of the 1920s and Arabs. Rudolph Valentino was a big factor in the adoption of that image in the 1920s:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Valentino

his most Famous film:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sheik_(film)

They should go back to an Arab on a Horse. Plenty of the teenage girls would ride the horse in the grab of an Arab.

[DesertDiamond]

10. I agree! This image is not only non-insulting but really COOL!

[DirkGently]

6. Holy crap.

They just thought maybe that needed adjustment ... now?

[ripcord]

8. FYI

Thermal is just a little way north of Mecca, Ca.

[MADem]

9. Good grief! I know why they picked him, though....

In the 1920s, stories and songs of Arabs--particularly those of the patriarchal desert culture-- were VERY popular--they were considered romantic and sexy. It wasn't a "put down" at the time--it was a bucolic, if fantasized lifestyle that was considered exotic and chic in a peasant sort of fashion:

Long, long, movie, but if you even look at a few scenes, you will get the idea--this was a SRO feature film. "Sheikhs" of "Araby" were celebrated in a variety of popular songs, too.

I take issue with the article, in that the cartoon character, though stereotyped in the extreme, doesn't seem to be snarling to me; he looks like he is smiling, and he's not wearing a "head scarf" he's wearing a keffiyeh.

I do not think the people picking the mascot in the 1920s meant this as an insult at all. I do, however, think that the imagery is well past its sell-by date and could, today, through modern eyes, be justifiably perceived as racist.

[Unvanguard]

12. "divisive" n/t