The new mascot?
A Southern California high school has retired a controversial Arab mascot.
The bearded, snarling mascot with a large hooked nose who wears a head scarf did not appear at Coachella Valley High School’s season-opening football game on Friday. A belly-dancing genie that often appears with the mascot during halftime was also retired. […]
The Arab mascot has existed since the 1920s to recognize the desert region’s reliance on date farming, a traditionally Middle Eastern crop. Over the years, the mascot evolved from a turban-wearing horseman carrying a lance to a standing figure with a scowl and a traditional head covering.
It came under fire last November when the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sent a letter to the school district complaining that the mascot was stereotypical.
The district refused to change the school’s “Arabs” nickname, but it agreed to redesign the Arab face on the school logo.