The Bellefonte Area School District has decided to retire the Red Raiders mascot imagery after months of debate and extensive research by the school district. Next up is a meeting to discuss and vote on the continued use of the Red Raiders nickname to represent the district.
The Native American imagery and Red Raiders moniker that is used by the district’s sports teams have been hotly debated since last June, when some community members asked for removal, calling it culturally insensitive.
This came as many social justice protests took place around the country during the spring and summer of 2020.
ANDREW DESTIN Special to The Express AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins
The Echo Theater is seen on Dec. 10 in Laurens, S.C. The Echo Project is working to renovate the building that once housed the racist Redneck Shop into a community center and racial reconciliation museum. AP Photo/Fernando Vergara
Dialysis patients Jorge Aldana, 63, right, and John Diaz, 27, work in a vegetable garden during an agro-therapy session at El Tunal Hospital in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Dec. 14. Rev. Don Grant Giuseppe Cacace, Pool via AP
In this Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020 file photo, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates after wining the Formula One race in Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. Hamilton is now a âSirâ as well as a seven-time Formula One champion after being knighted Wednesday, Dec. 30 in Queen Elizabeth IIâs New Year honors list.
Bellefonte, Pa. â The sound of an imitation war whoop echoes throughout Rogers Stadium.
Itâs the kind of sound used in old Hollywood westerns, the sound children playing âCowboys and Indiansâ might make as they move their hands over their mouths. When Bellefonte high plays Penns Valley in an early October football game, fans let out the cry as the Red Raiders rush onto the field. To the fans itâs just another Friday night, as it has been since 1936. Others in town would definitely not approve.
Kathryn Pletcher, of Bellefonte, Pa., poses for a portrait at the Arboretum at Penn State on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. Pletcher, a descendent of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa tribe of the Ojibwe people, is one of the foremost voices advocating for the change of Bellefonte Area High Schoolâs mascot, the Red Raiders.