Quartz Hill High School drops ‘Rebel’ mascot

Quartz Hill High School drops 'Rebel' mascot

A Californian high school drops its controversial “Rebel” nickname and mascot 56 years after supporting the symbolic Confederate soldier known as “Johnny Reb.”

The change is to create an atmosphere of “acceptance, respect and love” for all students at Quartz Hill High School in Quartz Hill, Antelope Valley Press reported.

“The recent events, locally and globally, resulted in a sincere reflection on our core values ​​as an institution and how we represent these values ​​to our community,” Antelope Valley Union High School District officials said on Thursday. “It is clear that we cannot continue using the rebel mascot to represent our school community.”

The decision takes effect immediately. Students and staff will now collaborate to choose a new mascot. The newspaper reported that its current replica – a blue and gold revolutionary soldier – has been used since 2017.

“They updated a bit to see more than a rancher mascot,” said Desiree Fernandez launched a Change.org petition told reporters that he claimed he had seen too many racial prejudices at school.

Fernandez said he spoke with Quartz Hill manager Zach Mercier for three hours on Wednesday before the announcement.

“I got the idea that he spent some time moving forward to change the school’s reputation and get rid of the mascot,” Fernandez said. Said.

The decision came after a week hanging from a tree outside the Palmdale Town Hall about 12 miles from Robert Fuller, a 24-year-old black man, Los Angeles Times reported. According to the newspaper, Fuller’s cause of death is under investigation.

The contentious logo later became a topic of discussion a day after Fuller’s death at the Antelope Valley Union High School district board.

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According to the Antelope Valley Press Report, the mascot was selected by students, parents, and community members who initially struggled to take precautionary measures to get the school built, according to a school program that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014.

According to the Antelope Valley Press archives, the moniker was chosen because of this struggle, but graduates said the school mascot also appeared in football games in a blue uniform with a gold stripe while holding the Confederate flag.

In 1995, a local NAACP official asked the school district to leave “Johnny Reb”, saying that he had split the student corpse. According to the newspaper, the school then removed all Confederate flags and swords from the images of the mascot and redesigned its letterhead paper.

At the school, English teacher Carmen Wilson said the decision sounded like a “new day.”

“Now I can finally wear spirit equipment,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I haven’t even said ‘Quartz Hill Rebels’ for the five years I’ve taught here.”

Former WWE wrestler George Murdoch – from Fox Nation’s talk show “Nuff Said With Tyrus” played “Tyrus” – Quartz Hill, he said he never understood the Rebel connection in California.

“I hate that,” Murdoch said to the Los Angeles Times. “The use of being called rebel was not meaningful. We are not in the south. We’re in California. We just don’t get it. “

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