Racism is racism, no matter what.

And at Wando High School, racism is promoted everyday by the usage of a "warrior" mascot—clearly a Native American. The depiction of this Native man is not entirely cartoonish, like many sports teams or schools, but it in and of itself is racist.

Why?

In short, it's disrespectful. Using any race, including Native races, as a mascot is harmful. Seeing a stereotypical Black or Asian person used as a cartoon or mascot would be racist, so why not a Native person? Natives are not just demographics. They are people that white people stole from, raped and murdered for their own benefit years ago and pushed to reservations and manipulated today. They are people that white people have hurt, and are now dressing up as at high school football games.

Native people find this use of their culture and depiction not as an honor, but as racist. It dehumanizes them. It equals them to a character, not a group of people.

This is why it needs to stop. Young kids go to these football games or see the mascot and think it's normal, or that it's okay. It's not. It's racism. It's normalized. And it needs to come to an end.