'Yeah, names do hurt': As America changes, West High School weighs its Rebels nickname

The racial reckoning that followed the death of George Floyd toppled Confederate monuments around the country as Americans shifted their perspectives on who and what to honor.

Now students at West High School are challenging the Rebels nickname because of its Confederate origin.

At a public input session Monday night, which the district held as a first step after students submitted a name-change petition with 49 signatures, community members said they agree that West should not celebrate the Confederate legacy, but they disagreed on the Rebels nickname itself.

Schools named after Confederate leaders: More than 240 US schools are named after Confederate leaders and about half serve majority non-white students

The school has used the Rebels name since 1951 but removed associated imagery like the Confederate flag.

The division was clear among the meeting's speakers. Some said the nickname was harmless now while others argued that even if it only hurts some people, it's worth changing.

"What was West High School really like, in my perspective, personally, in my school, what was West like? When we came through that door at West High School in 1964, they gave us just a bad feeling. We weren't greeted with love," West alum and football player Frederick Downs said. "We was greeted with hate."

He reminded the crowd that words have meaning.

"But I'm just still saying, still saying this, you can look at your own skin and see one thing but you've got to look at somebody's else's skin and see another. Yeah, names do hurt."

Chris Lindsay, a former West teacher, coach, administrator and alum, said he has spent time at the school when it had the Confederate imagery and when it was gone.

"We've been through this many times before," Lindsay said. "I'm weary. The cartoon character became the Running Rebel from the University of Las Vegas, UNLV, so the colonel went away a long time ago, imagery of the South or whatever. I mean East Tennessee was not a Confederate stronghold, they took care of that."

The University of Nevada Las Vegas retired its "Hey Reb!" mascot in January but still uses the nickname Rebels, according to the school's website.

The changes are part of a national movement. More than 90 Confederate monuments were taken down or moved from public spaces in 2020 following the death of Floyd, according to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center. But at the end of 2020, there were still about 700 Confederate monuments across the country.

In Knox County, school board procedures allow community members to challenge a school's mascot or team name if they demonstrate how the name does not align with local policy.

"Our current mascot is not respectful to the people of color in our community because it is representative of the Confederate Army, which fought to take away their rights," the petition reads.

"Even if we try to separate ourselves from the original intent of the mascot, we will never be able to fully get away from the racially motivated past of our mascot without changing it."

West is not the only school under scrutiny for Confederate ties. Nearby Maryville High School uses the Rebels nickname as well. A separate group last year asked the school to move away from its Rebels nickname, but it's still in place.

More than 240 schools in 17 states are named after a Confederate leader, according to a September 2020 report by the Equal Justice Initiative. The organization found that of those schools, about half have student bodies that are majority Black or majority nonwhite.

At West High School, 62.8% of students are white, 22.8% are Black or African American, 11% of students are Hispanic, according to the 2020-2021 Tennessee State Report Card. Students of other racial backgrounds make up the rest of the student body. There were close to 1,500 students last year.

The school stopped using the Confederate flag during the 1971-1972 school year, according to a News Sentinel article from 2005, but the Rebels nickname remained. Knox News reported in 2020 that the school was getting rid of the last image on school equipment of a cartoon Southern Colonel character.

About 13 people spoke at Monday's meeting but others were there to listen. Two students urged the school system to pick a new name that includes everyone.

Student and athlete Lucia McNulty said she believes a new name can be a "catalyst for change and further reform in our school."

"I can't begin to imagine running and hearing the name of someone who fought to enslave my ancestors yell at me. I don't have that personal connection but it is still awkward for me to hear when someone says 'Go Rebels' as I do my sport," McNulty said.

Janetta Jamerson Mauer, a psychologist, said children can "absorb the environment and learn to devalue themselves."

The name not only affects the athletes with Rebels jerseys but also affects all students who are trying to move on from the South's history of slavery.

"So I really challenge everyone to think about, that while 'yes it feels good to me,' is feeling good to me worth more than the deep sense of shame and psychological impact it could have on someone else?" she said Monday night.

The case in Maryville

Organizers in Maryville created a petition to remove the Rebels name and proponents created a counter petition. The district formed a committee that looked broadly at issues related to diversity, district spokeswoman Sharon Anglim told Knox News.

Rachel Evans graduated from Maryville High School in 2012 and said she reached out multiple times to be a part of the committee but didn't hear back. She said people had provided the school system with testimonies about the Rebels name that were “pretty alarming and pretty powerful," yet the name remains.

“I would absolutely hope that somebody would come along and realize that it doesn’t matter if they are affected by the name, if a school mascot can turn into a racial or political issues, it’s probably not a good mascot,” Evans said.

Jackie Fox Palmer graduated from the school in 1978 and is a mother to 2008 and 2012 graduates. She said it may take West to change its name before Maryville would do the same.

“If you change something, then you have to admit that something was wrong to begin with and Maryville is not good at admitting anything was wrong," she told Knox News.

She remembers seeing the Rebels flag while she was a high school student and said one person brought a Confederate flag to counter protest a demonstration by her and others last year urging a new name.

She said because Maryville High is the only high school in the district, the name is also tied to the city as a well-known brand. She said she hopes West has fewer obstacles since it's one of many high schools in Knoxville and its team name doesn't directly tie to the city the same way.

"Maryville is a brand and Maryville High School is part of that. They are very good at athletics, and that’s where the rebel name comes in and they don’t want to change their brand,” she said.

What's next?

West High School will host another community meeting at the school at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 6. The district will release an online survey on Dec. 7, Carly Harrington told Knox News.

The survey will have three questions, Harrington said. Participants are asked to align with one of three view points: the rebels name should be changed, the rebels name should remain the same or the respondent doesn't have a strong opinion on the rebels name.

Participants will also be asked what their affiliation with the school is and be given a comment box to provide any additional thoughts on the Rebels nickname.

The survey will be open for two to three weeks, secondary executive director Danny Trent said.

Then, district employees will look at the survey results and public comments. From there, Trent expects to the team to recommend something to the superintendent in January or February.

Then the superintendent will take the recommendation to the naming committee which is made up of three school board members. Eventually, the decision will come before the full school board, according to district procedures.

If the school board votes to change the name, West High principal Ashley Speas will lead the community in picking a new nickname, Trent said.

Isabel Lohman reports on children's education, health, welfare and opportunities in East Tennessee
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: West High School in Knoxville considers the future of Rebels nickname