An American high school obsessed with the Middle East for the past century could be forced to makeover its entire identity, with an anti-discrimination committee launching a campaign to remove “offensive” imagery of Arabs around the campus and change the school’s mascot.
Coachella Valley High School, in the desert near Los Angeles, has murals depicting romantic Middle Eastern scenes and harem girls in marching band parades.
Its sporting team is called the Coachella Valley Arabs, it puts on belly dancing shows during half-time and its mascot depicts an angry Arab.
But the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) says the school’s imagery is offensive and must be changed.
“The mascot is basically an angry ‘Arab’ head – hooknose, long beard, headscarf and all,” ADC legal and policy director Abed Ayoub told Al Jazeera.
The mascot was “harmful” and “demeaning” to the Arab-American community, he said in a letter sent to the Coachella Valley High School superintendent calling for it to be changed.
ADC also has started a petition.
Ayoub said in nearly 10 years of working in civil rights he had not encountered a more egregious case of stereotyping.
“And what makes it worse is that it’s coming from a school district,” he was quoted as saying.
“They’re supposed to be teaching kids to respect other cultures.”
The school has been fascinated by the Middle East since its inception in the early 20th century, with murals and its mascot evolving as ideals of the region have changed.
According to a former student who graduated in 1962, the school’s mascot was a turbaned Arab on horseback carrying a lance during the 1920s, while it was a young man in a fez holding a scimitar and an old man with a growling face and gold tooth in the 1950s and then the fez was changed to a hijab in the 1980s.
But Ayoub is hopeful the school will let go of its past and move into the 21st century.
“The fact that this is not malicious leads me to believe that we can reach some sort of understanding and agreement with the school board and city as to a name change and change of mascot,” he said.
“I think the first thing is to have the opportunity to meet with the school board and other decision makers directly and explore the options on how we can resolve this.”
The school’s superintendent Darryl Adams also admitted when he first saw the school’s “Arab” mascot, “it raised an eyebrow for me”.
He said he would speak to Ayoub about the concerns imminently and raise the matter with the school board on November 21.
“I definitely understand the sensitivity of it. We need to make adjustments and work together,” Adams told Al Jazeera.
“I will recommend to seriously have a discussion with the school and community.
“This is America … we should not be having this now.”
Follow us on
