A New York father and NAACP leader is demanding his school district discontinue its new "Spartans" mascot, alleging the warriors from ancient Greece symbolize enslavement and white supremacy.
As reported by Newsweek, William King Moss III, a father of two second-graders in the Brentwood Union Free School District on Long Island, filed a lawsuit last month claiming the Spartans moniker represents a symbol of "white supremacy" that violates state civil rights and constitutional protections.
"I look at a white soldier that has conquered people and enslaved them as white supremacy," Moss told Newsweek last week. "That's how I look at it. I think that's very clear to me when I logically look at it. My emotions are not in this at all, I assure you."
Newsweek chief investigative reporter Joshua Rhett Miller added that Moss, who also serves as president of the NAACP's Islip-Smithtown chapter, said a simple Google search reveals what he called problematic details about the ancient warriors that fought on behalf of the Greek city-state of Sparta around 400 B.C.E.
"One of the first things I read was that ancient Spartans were enslavers of indigenous people who they conquered," Moss said. "And not just enslavers, but violent enslavers. As an African-American, I find that highly offensive that the school district would even consider putting up a symbol of violent enslavers."
Brentwood Union Free School District was forced to drop its former name of the "Indians" last year after a state ruling banned public schools from using Native American imagery or logos. The "Spartans" mascot was selected to be the less-controversial alternative to "Indians" for the district, which includes about 18,000 students.
"This is a racial issue," Moss said. "You cannot put this into play. If you have to get rid of one race, you can't replace it with another race. You can't be the Brentwood Jews, you can't be the Brentwood Zulus and you can't be the Brentwood Spartans — plain and simple."
Of 9,258 votes cast, 2,079 ballots selected the Spartans as the district's next mascot, or 22 percent, beating out the Owls, Bears, Bulldogs and Green Machine. More than 400 high schools nationwide go by the Spartans, according to MascotDB.com, making it the 18th most popular team name, Newsweek reported.
Moss, a former math teacher in the district, said school officials need to consider yet another mascot name after unanimously adopting the Spartans moniker in November, according to his lawsuit. "I have played this out logically in my mind, rationally with my principles, rationally with the law, and I'm not in agreement with this decision," Moss said.
Moss, who has two daughters, said he was also angered that ancient Spartans didn't allow women in their military during their reign, some 2,500 years ago, Newsweek reported.
"We are less than 100 years out from women being excluded from the military," he said. "We're not even 100 years out. And my daughters' school district wants to put a symbol that says to them they can't do the military. What's going to happen when this messaging gets out to the kids?"
Oddly, "Indians Pride" still appears on the athletics page of the Brentwood High School website.
