Text Box: What on earth has gotten into our school board? Confronted by a local family which identifies itself as Chumash, the board tells us that our school mascot is a racist stereotype. If they are right, then we are racists. Back in the 1970s, I was part of a racist group; and so, if you went to Carp High, were you. The school board says we’ve been doing a bad thing here for generations, because this didn’t suddenly become the wrong thing to do. As a native Carpinterian and CHS alumnus, I find this disturbing. It makes me mad. I say we need to stand up, not just for the school mascot but for ourselves, and the good character of our town. I feel bad for the high school kids. I sympathize with the tears they cried at the meeting Wednesday night. This nonsense must hurt. It’s their school now, and they should be having fun and learning, not being confronted by citizens and administrators with a socio-political agenda. Some people just aren’t happy unless they’re stirring something up. It goes to show that no matter how egalitarian and inclusive you might think you are, somebody’s going to show up with a protest. It reminds me of an old Irish toast, “Here’s to the general health of the whole world, lest some damn fool take offense.” To be honest, I don’t really care what the mascot is, but I care about the town and its students. If the kids wanted a new mascot, and it was their choice, then fine with me. We had our fun, let them have theirs. They might have a different idea of how high school life should look. That’s cool. But it makes me angry to be told that our fun was bad and we should be ashamed. The school board has insulted this entire community just to be politically correct. The students are learning that in America a little shame goes a long way. Shame rules. Someone – and just a few – shamed the school board and put the fear of litigation in their timid little hearts. “Before we are involved in legal action or the State mandates them, we must retire them as soon as possible.” So said board member Amrita Salm. It’s a shame that the school board, an ostensible organ of local education, has missed a chance to teach a more expansive view of society. They have betrayed the students by allowing this to devolve into an event of authoritarian conflict, and by pandering to a small and narrow view of society. The school’s mascot has nothing to do with the Chumash and never did. I have a Carpinteria High School class ring from 1979. It has a caricature of a Plains Indian on one side, and what appears to be an Algonquin hunting canoe on the other. By which of these do I offend a young member of the Chumash tribe here in California? Do you think any member of the school board could describe a Chumash headdress for us, or a tomol plank canoe? A hint: neither looks anything like the items on my ring, and nothing like the symbols in use at the high school. I don’t blame the Chumash family for raising the issue, though it’s a little silly to pretend to represent the heritage of every tribe and nation of Natives of North America. That’s what they’re doing, because there’s nothing about our mascot and school symbols that identifies a particular native nation or tribe. Somebody could have Googled "Chumash symbols," and learned they are confusing their real symbols with our make-believe ones. Someone might have paused to consider our feelings. It might have dawned on them that these were happy symbols of our little town, and that we have a culture and rights of our own. They could have simply had some respect for this community. Hopefully, Carpinteria High is just a practice run for our Chumash neighbors. I assume they're gearing up to take on the Casino in Santa Ynez next. People who are so passionate about their culture would never abide a double standard, much less such grand and abject commercial defilement. After the casino, I guess it’s off to Disneyland to take out the Explorer Canoe Ride. Finally, I have these questions: Must I surrender my class ring at the next school board meeting, or will a member of the board be coming to get it? I have a sweater with an Indian head on it too, but I’m not sure where that is. Maybe they’d like to root through the boxes in my garage. Are they going to drag the Warrior down to Oxnard and set it up next to Santa Claus, or just bash our memories to pieces and haul them to the dump? Obviously, they can’t stay here. Out in Carpinteria Cemetery, we have buried many CHS Warriors. Will the school board assume the costs of etching the word Racist into their tombstones?  Or would three resignations from the school board be a more appropriate way to remember this week's stupidity? J. Kyle Kimberlin CHS Class of 1979 Warrior Pride

Dear Fellow Carpinteria Warriors,

Warrior Pride?
Text Box: On April 23, 2008, the Carpinteria School Board voted 3-2 to strip CHS of all imagery associated with the name “Warriors.”

Chumash

La Carpinteria:
a multiracial community since 1769

Warrior