Long Island school district must reinstate Native American mascot or face funding cuts, Trump administration says

I was not expecting to see my old school district in the news. I also had no idea that the state had that law (I live in Florida now, it's not by choice) and that they had to change the school team's name.

It's worth noting that many people shortened the team name to T-birds when I was there anyways. I personally liked the old name. A lot of places on the Island have names originating from native languages and cultures, so it tied into that. That having been said, I understand that the Thunderbird is sacred to a number of tribes and that this falls under cultural appropriation. I understand not wanting something so important to be made a high school sports mascot.

I personally don't like the federal government getting involved here. This is just another example of the current administration vice signaling at every opportunity. It should ultimately be up to the native community to determine if the original name was offensive.

Disclaimer: I know this is a native community and I'm probably like 99% European in ancestry. Allegedly someone going back a few generations on my mother's side was part Cherokee, but I have doubts. I just wanted to provide some thoughts as a Connetquot alumnus. I apologize in advance if I'm not allowed to post here, but I didn't see anything in the sidebar.