Keep Keller High School Mascot

Keep Keller High School Mascot

Started
September 14, 2017
Petition to
President of Keller ISD School Board, Place 3 Cindy Lotton and 1 other
Petition Closed
This petition had 10,380 supporters

Why this petition matters

Started by Chris Hatchett

Recently, an Op-ed was written by a 2002 Keller High School Graduate about the "harm" it caused having Indians as a mascot, and accusing those of us who supported our existing mascot, "The Indians", of being white supremacists.
 
This ex-student doesn't live in the City of Keller, or the District Keller is in, OR even the state of Texas. This ex-student doesn't pay city taxes, or contribute any energy to the city of Keller other than an op-ed slamming us over our high school "mascot". 

I graduated in 1999, and my experience is that being a Keller Indian meant you were part of a tribe. A tribe of people who looked out for you, who laughed with you, who cried with you. It was a tribe of people who loved each other, and supported one another through thick and thin. Organizations like Natural Helpers, embodied the essence of what it meant to be a tribe who loves each other. 

Friday night meant putting on your war paint, and walking across the street to root on your team, win or lose... and always looking for that blue light at the end of the night. However Being an "Indian" meant something bigger than just a sports and a mascot. It was celebrating the rich history of Native American Indians, and by keeping in line with honoring their traditions in every way we could. For many of us, Indian blood runs through our veins in more than just a metaphor. 

Keller High School was established in 1913, and after negotiating a land deal with the Comanche tribe at the time, our founding fathers thought it be prudent to name their districts mascot "Indians", in order to preserve the history they had with the Comanche. 

Over the next 104 years, Keller has evolved into a community of people who believe in keeping our small town roots. We are people who look out for each other.  Some of us have remained here over the years, and some have ventured north and have had their beliefs in their "home tribe" poisoned, and would wish to change all of that in the name of "perceived harm." So fellow Keller Citizens, we are here to look out for you now. 

Some would have the audacity to call a caring, loving community of diverse ethnic people "White Supremacists" just because it suits a current social trend. They would write to press outlets and paint a community like ours, as a community of hate, when anyone could spend 1 day here and discover that its very much not the truth. 

In a society that is becoming more and more hyper-sensitive in order to prevent "offending someone", we are at risk of losing more and more of our rich community history in being forced by these bullies to completely change our community dynamic.  By having schools that are being forced to abandoned their beloved mascots, it opens up a very slippery slope that if not careful, can cost the City Taxpayers a lot of money, not to mention putting citizens at risk if hate groups like AntiFA show up to our city and attack us for being accused of "White Supremacy" while someone pats themselves on the back for being a "Facebook warrior."

As furious as we are, there is a silver lining that we can take moving forward. 

If we truly want a change that would bring Keller High School into a new age of relations with the Native American Indians, let's lay down our Tomahawk Chants on Friday nights for an authentic Comanche Raid Song, or a Kiowa War Cry. If we are going to represent a culture, let's make sure the culture we represent is 100% authentic. We don't need to lose our identity as Indians in order to do that. 

Furthermore as a city, I would petition that we set up a Keller Indian Cultural Day, where we bring in Comanche and Kiowa to Keller, and have a day of cultural appreciation, dances, and allow our citizens to be educated by authentic Native Americans. 


Sign the petition and share share share! GO KELLER INDIANS! 

Petition Closed

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Decision Makers

  • Cindy LottonPresident of Keller ISD School Board, Place 3
  • Dr. Rick WestfallSuperintendent, Keller ISD