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MOST RECENT UPDATE
Latest efforts to retire the name Rebel were shot down by the school superintendent in a school board meeting on 09-28-20.
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School officials said the rebel nickname was established when three schools consolidated to form Southwestern Jefferson County Schools. The name was used because there was much opposition to the consolidation. It stems from James Dean's "Rebel Without a Cause" film, not racism, Superintendent Jeff Bates said. "It's that kind of a rebel, being rebellious," he said. "Not anything to do with the Civil War at all."
”One of the first businesses along Highway 62 while driving into the town of roughly 3,500 is a bar called Johnnie Reb’s — a reference to the Confederate army often used in American Southern culture. Last weekend, the bar’s digital sign advertised a Friday night show by a band called Southern Compromise, which refers to the political deal that set the stage for the Jim Crow era.”
”Patterson acknowledged that school officials trace the nickname back to the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, which starred Indiana native James Dean. But almost immediately upon the school system’s inception in 1960, Confederate imagery was being used.”
”The high school’s 1963 yearbook featured a Confederate soldier on its cover, with more obvious references coming in the 1980s and 1990s, including several depictions of the Rebel flag.
“One compromise we had [suggested] was [to] change the colors to black and white and have your mascot be a greaser,” Patterson said. “Like a James Dean greaser.”
’Physical representation of the mascot has changed over the years, Patterson said. A generic “Johnny Reb” character was used early in the schools’ history, with adoptions of other more famous characters like Ole Miss’ “Colonel Reb” and UNLV’s “Hey Reb” coming in later years.”
RIDICULOUS TYPICAL ATTEMPT TO JUSTIFY
“Bates’ statement noted the origins of the school district in 1960, when Saluda and Hanover schools consolidated to form one school corporation in the southwest region of Jefferson County. Students voted to adopt the name “Rebels” over other options based to their opposition to consolidation, his statement said.”
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Bates then acknowledged the confederate imagery seen throughout the years through the Colonel Reb logo, battle flags flown at games and a mural of two Confederate soldiers in the high school wrestling room that he had painted over during the summer.
”His administration has continued efforts from over the years to phase out Confederate imagery, like discontinuing the Colonel Reb logo and mascot costume and not allowing battle flags at sporting events. Any other display of Confederate imagery, like a Colonel logo showing up on a sporting event sign, would be a result of something “slipping through the cracks,” he said.”