Description
"Chicago’s Lane Tech College Prep High School will officially remove its Indian mascot, the school said in a Thursday letter."
"A questionnaire from current students, families, teachers, staff members and alumni showed they “overwhelmingly support” the mascot’s removal, the letter said, and a subsequent public meeting resulted in a unanimous vote by council members to remove the symbol."
“We have recently spoken with the American Indian Center (AIC) who believes the Lane Tech symbol and mascot is racist and upholds our genocidal past as a nation,” the letter said.
The letter continued: “If we believe we must prioritize the most impacted voices, we need to listen to the AIC and our Native youth. Those most impacted by inequity, in this case, include Indigenous students and their communities as well as other Students and Lane Tech community members of Color. We acknowledge that for some Lane Tech constituents, the symbol/mascot represents a deep connection to their historical school experiences, which the Office of Equity took into account; however, those memories can not take precedence over repairing historical harm upon Indigenous people and their heritage.”
“As a school community, we champion diversity, inclusion, and understanding, and it’s essential that we live up to these ideals in all possible ways,” Tennison said in a June message to parents.
“I was disappointed with this being allowed by the school, and I felt like it was a misrepresentation and misunderstanding of my own Native American culture,” one Native American student at Lane wrote in 2018, in an opinion piece in the school newspaper.
"In the past, we have had an 'Indian' head in the 'O' of the Warrior logo, and above the staff box on Page 2. We believe these illustrations are insensitive to the Native American community and are not representative of the direction of our publication."
"A message from LANE TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL
August 6, 2020
Dear Lane Tech Community:
On Tuesday night, the Lane Tech Local School Council (LSC) finished a four-week process of considering the removal of the Native American symbol as our school’s mascot. This process included creating a dedicated LSC subcommittee, sending a questionnaire to current students, families, teachers, staff, and alumni, and opening up a specific email account to receive questions and concerns.
The results of the questionnaire showed that current students, families, and staff overwhelmingly support removing the Native American symbol and mascot of Lane Tech. Following this questionnaire, the Lane Tech LSC hosted a special public meeting with an hour of community commentary in which LSC members voted unanimously to remove the symbol of a Native American as Lane Tech’s mascot.
Taking into consideration the feedback from the four week process considering the removal of the symbol, the LCS vote, and support from the CPS Office of Equity and Network 14 the Lane administration has decided to officially remove the symbol of a Native American as the Lane Tech mascot. Though the decision rests with the school administration, we wanted an inclusive process that considered the voices of the many stakeholders in our community.
The CPS Office of Equity wrote in a letter to the Lane Tech LSC:
“In the Equity Framework, part of how we define equity is as “championing the individual cultures, identities...of each student...to meet their unique needs and aspirations.” We have recently spoken with the American Indian Center (AIC) who believes the Lane Tech symbol and mascot is racist and upholds our genocidal past as a nation. The AIC is aligned with many other Native serving National organizations, and has membership from over 100 federally recognized tribes. If we believe we must prioritize the most impacted voices, we need to listen to the AIC and our Native youth. Those most impacted by inequity, in this case, include Indigenous students and their communities as well as other Students and Lane Tech community members of Color. We acknowledge that for some Lane Tech constituents, the symbol/mascot represents a deep connection to their historical school experiences, which the Office of Equity took into account; however, those memories can not take precedence over repairing historical harm upon Indigenous people and their heritage.”
In the upcoming school year, our LSC will work with students, faculty, staff, the Lane administration, Network 14, and the CPS Office of Equity to identify a new symbol that reflects the values of our school community. We will communicate more details about this process after the start of the new school year.
Thank you for your support, and I am confident our school will continue to strive to practice kindness, empathy, and respect for our students and community.
Brian Tennison Laura LeMone, EdD
Principal Chief of Schools, Network 14
Lane Tech College Prep Chicago Public Schools"