KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
On Wednesday, the William S. Hart school board will vote on the fate of the Hart High School mascot, the Indians.
A little bit of history for those new to our valley. Santa Clarita is ground zero for Western filming. Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and cowboy silent film star, William S. Hart and many others shot thousands of western movies in our valley.
William S. Hart was the cowboy superstar during the silent film era. He was fluent in the Navajo language. Although he always played the cowboy hero, he revered the Indian. Because our valley was overrun with cowboy memorabilia, our first High School had its mascot named the Indians in the 1940’s. It was named to honor our Native Americans, the Indians.
Now a group wants to erase our history, sanitize it because the word “Indian” might have negative connotations for those who want to misinterpret it.
So, what’s next? Certainly, the Canyon Cowboy needs to be erased for the devastation they did to the Indians. The Valencia Vikings massacred entire races. The Saugus Centurions needs revision. How can we honor a position in the Roman army? And why stop at our high schools? Our junior high schools and elementary schools will also warrant a thorough cleansing.
It’s too bad William S. Hart is no longer alive to speak in front of the school board tomorrow night. He might give them the strength to stand up to a minority of vocal reactionaries who want to rewrite our history to suit their narrative. We are no longer allowed to display our nation’s warts. We must eliminate classics like “Huckleberry Finn” and the Hart Indians so our children will no longer understand the good and the bad of our great nation.
Tomorrow night will be very sad for Santa Clarita if our school board bows to pressure from the vocal minority. If it does, we might have to eliminate “Hometownstation” because it is too inclusive to the residents of Santa Clarita.
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Hey Carl,
Not sure if you know this but we don’t live in India. Native Americans are not Indians.
But of course the GOP soundbox of the SCV is pro racism. Very on brand.
Please Vicky, go back to bed. “Cowboys and Indians”
Genograhic studies indicate that Indians migrated to North America from Asia, so Columbus got it right
Thank you Carl for speaking up
And yet many will still say “We’re not racist in Santa Clarita.” To them I say, “Please re-read this comment carefully and then explain it to me…”
Excellent article Carl. Let’s hope the Hart Board has enough common sense to leave things as they are.
Rain or shine, I’ll always be an Indian.
Well said!!! I loved our fearless and Brave Mascot… Go Hart
Agreed, you probably won’t change.
swturner1974@gmail.com
High school is a hellscape for anyone other than everyday average normal people. Changing the name won’t improve the bullying and cliques one iota. Much ado about nothing.
Thank you for speaking up Carl! Ignore the uneducated trolls who don’t agree with you.
Everybody has a bone to pick, because it’s all about them. I too hope the school board
will keep the Hart Indians Mascot, as do many others who have long lived in this Valley.
Well said, Carl ??????☀️
I received an email response from both the Native American Guardian’s Association as well as Mr. Peter MacDonald who both support keeping the H logo with the two feathers. They do not want the Indian removed, they want the our youth, staff and community educated.
Please do your own research:
Native American Guardian’s Association:https://www.facebook.com/NAguardians
Mr. MacDonald is a Native American politician and the only four term Chairman of the Navajo Tribe. MacDonald was born in Arizona, U.S. and served the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II as a Navajo Code Talker. He was first elected Navajo Tribal Chairman in 1970.
https://navajopeople.org/blog/peter-macdonald-tribal-chairman-code-talker/