Son Tran
Period 6
11/21/2013
Changing Vallejo

The history of Vallejo High has the name “Apaches”, the mascot of the school is Naiche- the Native American. The name Apache has been with the school for more than 100 years. If we go back for 90 years, the name will not seem offensive because back then, there was still discrimination to the Native American; but today, there seems to be a problem with the some people find the mascot is offensive. The argument that is the mascot is supposes to be a pet, not a person. Vallejo High’s mascot is a controversial topic because there are a lot of argument; the two main problems are if we should change it because some people find it offensive and we shouldn’t change it because there will be a lot of problems that we have to deal with. However, despite the counter-argument, Vallejo High should change their mascot in order to inspire the new generation of students and eliminate discrimination.
The mascot is representing the school’s spirit. That is, the mascot represents the school history and caries its pride. Students within the school are proud of the mascot, but because of the name for the mascot that stick with them and the graduated students for a very long time. There are many students of the Vallejo High that have kind of strong feeling: they are proud of being “Apache”, they are proud of each time they hear the name, but however, for the old Native American, they might have different perspective about that. The adult Native American thinks that young students do not understand the feeling of being compare with pet. In my personal opinion, the Vallejo High should change its mascot to the “lion” because it represent the power of wild animal. Many students may find that the lion may inspired them more than the old name because the most dangerous and powerful creature is the lion, so the students may want the school to be strong just like