Lancaster, New York,

You are a sweet little town; OK, maybe not so little. You’re actually pretty big, and you're pretty great ... sometimes. We’ve been on the news within the past year or so for something that may seem silly, but needs to be talked about, and I’m going to talk about it.

For some reason, we are still talking about the mascot name. It has been a little over a year since it was changed. And if you are reading this, and you’re not from Lancaster, yes — we are the community who changed our mascot name. We looked like fools on national media. People were talking about us on Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter for how silly we were for having a racist mascot name. Or is it racist? Nobody seems to know.

Anyways, we recently had our school board election and for some reason, we had "pro-Redskins" and "pro-administration" candidates running for our school board. Seems pretty logical to pick the "pro-administration" candidates, right? Well, we did, but a ton of people still voted for the "pro-Redskins" candidates. Mainly to change the name back, even though it was changed for a reason.

The basic idea is that our old mascot, the Lancaster Redskin, is racist and degrading, and we should not be using it. I personally agree with this, but a lot of people don’t. The argument for the mascot is that people find that the name is honoring the Native American community, for our mostly white middle-class community is strong, and we are representing the name with might and strength and boldness — and that somehow makes it OK. Native Americans were brought in — some said it was fine, others said it bothered them. The other argument for the mascot is tradition. Keep it for tradition. Keep it because that's how it's been for years. Tradition is a huge thing for Lancaster, especially in the school district. People sound like Tevye from "Fiddler on the Roof" (which ironically had been produced at the high school two years before).

Unfortunately for some and fortunately for others, we are now the Lancaster Legends, which honestly sounds pretty cool. To hear "The Lancaster Marching Legends" sounds pretty awesome when you're walking with the kids out onto the field for competition. For some reason, people are still upset and being sore losers about the whole situation, mostly the adults and alumni who graduated way before my time. Is being upset about changing our mascot to something that's truly strong and bold really the best way to show how great our community is?

Lancaster has such wonderful programs. We have a great Youth Bureau, where families can go multiple times a year (the beginning of school, Thanksgiving, Christmas) to get things that they need and can’t afford. We have a great music program, which has a reputation throughout the state for being one of the best. We have great athletic programs, which can be seen through championship winning games and great teamwork. We have a cute downtown that has been reborn over the past few years, two large and pretty parks, a beautiful town hall and opera house, great community events around the holidays and a community that comes together when times are hard.

I was in school when I found out that one of our own was killed when riding his bike. I was in the cafeteria with the marching band when another one of our own was killed in a plane crash. I saw on Instagram the posts of the lockers of students who have killed themselves because of bullying. We’ve had a lot of tragedy in Lancaster, and our community always seems to pull together to support each other. And I’m sad that this is not the side of Lancaster that people get to see. Instead, people get to see the stupidity that is the fight over a silly mascot.

Is fighting over a mascot really that important? What about the education of the students? What about the sports teams and the music department? Are the kids in the school happy? Are they well fed? Are the students getting good grades or reading at the proper grade level? Maybe instead of focusing on a mascot, we can focus on the education of the students, which the mascot does not help or hinder in any way.

So Lancaster, I’m reaching out to you to ask you something. As someone who grew up in Lancaster as a Redskin, I am asking that you retire the Redskin mascot. Holding on to it and fighting for it seems so silly when we can focus on so much more. We can focus on supporting our students, on making sure that the bullies in our community are stopped, on strengthening the programs that we brag about so much to others and strengthening ourselves. Please, put down your tomahawks, take down your signs, and pick up a sword, for the sword is just as mighty and strong as the tomahawk. If you do this, I know that our community can become legendary, and we can grow even more, instead of being torn in two.

Please,

A Member of Your Community