After years of emotional debate, the Natick public school system has decided to stop using its controversial 50-year old nickname “Redmen” (here). Yes, beginning in 2008, Natick students will refer to themselves in a much more politically-correct fashion: The Redpeople.
Natick citizens are outraged — outraged — at the vanquishment of their beloved American Indian mascot. Pleaded one resident, “Where does freedom of speech begin and where does it end? ACLU where are you?” Please, save us, ACLU, from these fascistic school committees and their freedom-hating racial sensitivities. We’re checking our civil liberties at the door. Goodbye Natick Redmen… hello Natick Reds.
The Natick School Committee was swayed to drop the nickname after testimony by American Indians who declared the “Redmen” nickname to be demeaning, racist, and “as offensive as white men and yellow men.” Now there’s an idea: The Natick Whitemen. Give those whites a taste of their own racist medicine.
One former Natick athlete declared that the “blood he spilled on Memorial Field was red enough” to earn to his Redmen moniker, although it’s unclear if he also contracted smallpox, was forcibly resettled to barren farmland, and eventually starved to death.
