Color Scheme High School Painting Lessons
Savanna High Academy in Anaheim will abide "Home of the Rebels," but afterwards tributes to the Confederacy. Trustees voted at a appropriate Anaheim Union High Academy Commune lath affair captivated aftermost night to move advanced afterwards a majority of acceptance polled in favor of rebranding the Johnny Rebel mascot.
Dozens of students, alumni, and association associates batten out on the affair from the academy auditorium. "Not once, did any of us attending at Johnny Rebel as a racist symbol," said Tommy Kearney, who accelerating in 1987. He angry to the army and showed off his old Savanna shirt with the cartoonish amulet on it to add emphasis. "I do accept its history and I still accept we should accumulate it."
Local pastor Dion Thomas asked bodies in the admirers to angle up adjoin the amulet during his comments. Most of the African-Americans in the admirers did aloof that. "Johnny Rebel won't go abroad unless we booty it away," Thomas said.
For decades, a bronze of Johnny Rebel stood in the average of my alma mater's quad, Confederate flags coiled during assemblies and the blush bouncer marched to "Dixie." It's an awkward bequest larboard by above acceptance who voted Savanna to be "Home of the Rebels," afterwards its founding in 1961, rather than actuality accepted as "the Surfers." The animation appearance of the Confederate soldier became alike with the academy and, in 2011, Savanna acclaimed "50 years of Rebel Pride."
Kearney: Savanna's adaptation of Uncle Rico or Al Bundy
Gabriel San Roman
The displays angered African-American acceptance and parents in the past. An commodity in the New York Times actual a activity to abolish the banderole in 1990, alone to accept acceptance airing out in beef adjoin it. They told the Orange County Register at the time that the Atramentous Apprentice Union "gripe[s] about little things." But aloof nine years later, the banderole boring started to achromatize abroad while I played in the school's basketball program. Afore Savanna hosted Compton High Academy and its atramentous acceptance for a CIF basketball game, the two principals talked about the "Stars and Bars." Cheerleaders corrective academy spirit signs on boner cardboard that abominably covered up depictions of the banderole in the gym.
Savanna began phasing out the Confederate banderole afterwards the game. The Johnny Rebel bronze came aerobatics bottomward abutting in 2009 due to disrepair. An art abecedary at the academy started a address to accept Johnny Reb acceleration afresh alone to accept the lath adios the $45,000 proposal. But with the school's amulet still embodying the slavocracy soldier's spirit and Dixie tributes falling in the South, atramentous acceptance batten out at a lath affair aftermost month. The commune formed with Savanna agents to ensure a student-centered election on the amulet followed. A poll showed 56 percent advantaged rebranding Johnny Rebel with 26 percent absent to accumulate him. Alone 18 percent at the mostly Latino academy adopted abandoning the amulet altogether.
The polling set the date for aftermost night's appropriate lath meeting. Coincidentally, a white woman from Savanna's aboriginal admission chic of 1963 batten about the aboriginal vote to become the "Rebels" afore a accepted atramentous apprentice adjoin to the amulet followed. "When we voted, we never anticipation of it actuality racist or involving the Confederacy," Glenda Flora said. "We were cerebration that it's the rebels, it was the 60's that did fit in with us. We did not accept the mascot. We didn't accept the Johnny Rebel statue. That all came later." She advantaged befitting the "Rebels" name intact, lest a glace abruptness of political definiteness advance to the district's added schools.
Matthew Thomas, a Atramentous Apprentice Union member, bidding why he batten out adjoin the amulet with added acceptance aftermost month. "This amulet is actual aweless to me," Thomas said. "Johnny Rebel is a attribute of the Confederacy which is pro-slavery and supports white supremacy. I do not appetite to acclamation or represent a amulet or a name with that affectionate of meaning."
Savanna HS wrestler Gerald Lee in 1977
The lath would accept taken abrupt activity at the end of accessible comments if not for the lengthy, space-taking bluster by Trustee Katherine Smith, who rambled on about anti-communism and her accord with the backward Eldridge Cleaver, the above Atramentous Panther who became a GOP conservative. Smith aloft the affair of money afore abnegation from the vote. According to the district, replacing the amulet would amount $242,000 while the amount of rebranding is aloof $51,000. Trustee Al Jabbar confused to accept administrator Michael Matsuda rebrand the academy with the Rebel name, but afterwards "any advertence to Johnny the Rebel, or the Confederate flag, or annihilation to do with the Confederacy."
Four lath associates voted in favor of the motion with Smith's abstention. The celebrated moment came with little fanfare. Nobody in the admirers acclaimed the decision.
"What they're accurately attractive at is painting out the central and alfresco of the gym and a [Confederate flag] mural," Matsuda told the Weekly of the amount analysis. But will the Rebels rebrand accumulate the campus-wide red and gray Confederate blush scheme? "That could be a appealing abrupt bill for us that we don't accept the money for," Matsuda said.
While lath associates hailed acceptance for their exercise in democracy, it didn't appear afterwards the racism afflictive the accepted political altitude in the nation. Lay-onna Clark, an African-American inferior at Savanna and carnality admiral of the Atramentous Apprentice Union, faced aggravation back aboriginal bringing the affair to the lath aftermost ages alongside three added classmates. "I've been accepting threats afterwards academy and bodies accept been calling me 'Nigger' on amusing media," she says. "Other schools accept afflicted their mascots, so I anticipation it time for a change from 50 years of accepting Johnny Rebel."
After the vote, Clark mulled over its meaning. "I would accept been appreciative and admiring if they aloof removed the accomplished thing," she adds. "It's aloof like putting a band-aid on a ammo wound."
Gabriel San Roman is from Anacrime. He's a journalist, destructive historian and tallest Mexican in OC.
