Should The Rebel Man Be Canned By Alabama High School?

An Alabama high school may replace The Rebel Man as their mascot, and it’s all over the recent controversy surrounding the confederate flag. CBS News reports that Vestavia Hills High School may do away with the historic caricature, along with their long-celebrated slogan, “Go Rebels!” This news has also been met with a lot of anger by those who support the flag and defend it as part of southern heritage.

The potential retirement of the Rebel Man has sparked debate in Vestavia Hills and surrounding areas, with people arguing whether the character represents slavery and racism or their heritage in the deep South. One mother named Olivia Brooks believes that the school’s mascot is an offensive reminder to her children, of the state’s very dark and not-so-distant past mistreatment of blacks.

“There is no question in my mind that the Confederate soldier and the plantation owner are symbols of racism.”

The plantation owner she is referring to is none other than Vestavia Hills High School’s mascot. The Rebel Man may be a caricature, like any other school mascot, but what that caricature depicts is what many people find offensive. It’s a depiction of a plantation owner from the era of slavery. Plantation owners in Alabama, and other southern states, notoriously owned many slaves to work both indoors and outdoors on their properties. In the minds of Olivia Brooks and many people like her, the idolization of this mascot, much like the confederate flag, only serves to glorify oppression.

“I see images of slavery. I see Jim Crow.”

Of course, the reactions of those who support and oppose the retirement of the Rebel Man are passionate, both on social media and off of it. To a lot of people, the school mascot simply represents pride in the school they attended and the local team they support, and they don’t want to hear anything about the feelings of those who see the history behind the symbolism. On the other hand, the people who want the Rebel Man to be replaced are being called the oppressive ones by those who want to hold onto both the mascot and the confederate flag as symbols of their heritage in the South. This is an issue so important to the community of Vestavia Hills that nearly 200 people showed up for a town meeting to discuss it, according to NBC News 12.

The removal of confederate and “Old South” imagery was sparked by the campaign to remove the confederate flag from memorials and government properties. Of course the flag is also being removed from stores and online retailers such as Amazon, according to a previous Inquisitr report.

Do you think the Rebel Man should be retired as the Vestavia Hills High School mascot, or is this something that should be preserved as a piece of history at the Alabama high school? It should be noted, however, that Vestavia Hills High School itself isn’t an historic institution, having been founded in 1970.

[Photo: Vestavia Hills High School via NBC News 12]