Dear Editor,
Representatives Heather Chase (who represents Athens, Chester, Grafton and Windham) and Emma Mulvaney-Stanak of Burlington have introduced a bill to amend an existing “school branding” law. That law prohibits, among other things, the use of symbols that refer to the race of any group. The amendment would allow the agency of education to hold back funding if school districts don’t abide by the law. In other words, do as we say or we’ll punish you, big time.
Until recently, Green Mountain Union High School in Chester had as its mascot “The Green Mountain Chieftains,” which included the image of a Native American in a feathered headdress. The school branding law defined the name and image to be “discriminatory” to Native Americans.
That’s one interpretation, but it’s a narrow, and negative interpretation. The word “chieftain” is Anglo-Saxon in origin, means a ruler or military leader, and is not particular to Native Americans. Feathered headdresses have been used in a number of cultures to denote high standing. The feathered “war bonnet” in the Green Mountain High School brand was used by some of the tribes of the Great Plains to represent leadership, courage, and bravery. Each feather in the headdress stood for a particular act of bravery.
The proposed amendment to the “school branding” law would allow the Vermont Agency of Education to withhold funds from any school district that doesn’t accept whatever interpretation of discrimination is dominant in Montpelier at the moment. This amounts to state censorship and is wrong.
Sincerely,
Anna Vesely Pilette
Grafton, Vt.