Harckham Walks Back Senate Bill to Exclude Race-Based Mascots
Surely, it was a coincidence, but shortly after my column was published last week state Sen. Peter Harckham (D-Lewisboro) had amended Senate Bill S8708, which originally called for state education law to exclude schools with race-based mascots from receiving some state funding.
Harckham’s original inclination sought to add section 3602-g, which included language that excluded schools with race-based mascots from state appropriation. This act was to take effect three years after it became law, giving schools that time to abolish their current mascots, rediscover themselves and get all sports new apparel (for grades 7-12) and designs. Under the original measure, school districts wouldn’t receive state funding until they stopped the use of race-based mascots, which is pretty darn subjective if you ask me.
Facebook, and other forms of social media, took Harckham to task and he promptly walked it back last Tuesday in a likely effort to save his political career, perhaps anticipating a firestorm of criticism. Subsequently, Harckham amended his bill while his fall election opponent Rob Astorino pounced.
It no longer includes the threat to school districts that they would lose state funding. If he wins re-election this November, do you think Harckham drops this notion entirely, or does he pick up where he left off and run with it?
Currently, there are about 100 schools in New York State whose sports teams are named respectfully after Native Americans – such as the Indians, Chiefs, Arrows and Red Raiders, etc.
Instead, Harckham now implores school boards in districts that use race-based mascots to discuss racial sensitivity during a meeting at least once a year. I can live with that bill, because it leaves matters to be handled internally, not forced down our throats by Democratic legislators, who should have potential solutions to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and social justice reform on the front burner, not school mascots.
We know all about the obvious mascots that have created a buzz for years, the Redskins, Chiefs, Braves, Indians, etc. But if you look hard enough you can find fault in just about every mascot. These days, in an era where everybody gets a trophy and nobody gets disciplined accordingly, some hifalutin millennials will take offense to anything, including statues of George Washington and Christopher Columbus, moments before tearing them down at some baseless hootenanny.
The Cornhuskers are on the brink. Surely, there’s a farmer out there ready to bean someone with a can of lima beans if we continue to use them as mascots.
The Yankees gotta go. Confederate flag-toting rednecks, who rarely take offense to anything, will want to even the score for their loss in America’s Civil War.
The Cougars are no good either, for obvious reasons. Divorced, middle-aged woman stalking younger 20-somethings will certainly take offense.
The Brewers are on the cusp. Every kid in Wisconsin is subliminally encouraged to do 12-ounce curls over an actual workout.
The Spartans are finished. Surely there must remain someone associated with ancient Sparta (195 BC) that holds a grudge.
The Fighting Irish and the Gaels must be ditched. Even though millions of Irish across the globe are proud to be honored at places like Notre Dame, despite the naysayers who claim it’s rooted in negative stereotypes of Catholics and immigrants. Newsflash: The Irish don’t give a rat’s arse!
The Padres and the Angels best be careful. They are too closely affiliated with Christianity, so the mob is coming.
The Quakers are on the hit list, too: Even though they played a major role in the abolition movement against slavery in both the United Kingdom and the U.S. Do your homework before you come for the Quakers.
Some of these grandstanding politicians in Albany literally want to abolish the respect folks in Chappaqua-based Horace Greeley have for the Quakers and, likewise, the Indians at places like Mahopac. Innocuous school mascots should be nowhere near the front burner of state senators just because a few squeaky wheels need some grease. I’m just so tired of this B.S. Who’s with me?
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
Visit Ray’s author bio page for more details. Also read Ray’s archived work here and his Direct Rays column here.
