On Wednesday, the William S. Hart school board will vote on the fate of the Hart High School mascot, the Indians.
A little bit of history for those new to our valley. Santa Clarita is ground zero for Western filming. Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and cowboy silent film star, William S. Hart and many others shot thousands of western movies in our valley.
William S. Hart was the cowboy superstar during the silent film era. He was fluent in the Navajo language. Although he always played the cowboy hero, he revered the Indian. Because our valley was overrun with cowboy memorabilia, our first High School had its mascot named the Indians in the 1940’s. It was named to honor our Native Americans, the Indians.
Now a group wants to erase our history, sanitize it because the word “Indian” might have negative connotations for those who want to misinterpret it.
So, what’s next? Certainly, the Canyon Cowboy needs to be erased for the devastation they did to the Indians. The Valencia Vikings massacred entire races. The Saugus Centurions needs revision. How can we honor a position in the Roman army? And why stop at our high schools? Our junior high schools and elementary schools will also warrant a thorough cleansing.
It’s too bad William S. Hart is no longer alive to speak in front of the school board tomorrow night. He might give them the strength to stand up to a minority of vocal reactionaries who want to rewrite our history to suit their narrative. We are no longer allowed to display our nation’s warts. We must eliminate classics like “Huckleberry Finn” and the Hart Indians so our children will no longer understand the good and the bad of our great nation.
Tomorrow night will be very sad for Santa Clarita if our school board bows to pressure from the vocal minority. If it does, we might have to eliminate “Hometownstation” because it is too inclusive to the residents of Santa Clarita.
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