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Vol. 4 – No. 51 ♦
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September 5, 2020 – September 11, 2020
County Governing Body Eliminates ‘Freeholder’ From Its Long-Held Title
CHIEF CONCERN
‘County Commissioners’ Is New Term Approved by Board Before Governor Orders Statewide Change Next Year By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
Photo By Andy Milone
Cherokee High School’s main sign with a Native American rendering replaced with a Chiefs script.
Petition Garners Over 2,700 Signatures and Consternation Grows After Indian Caricature Painted Over in Cherokee High Gymnasium and Sign with Native American Image Disappears for ‘Maintenance’ By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
MARLTON—A petition calling on Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) officials to stop “erasing our history” and containing the rallying cry “We cannot let them erase the Indian heritage in our area” has garnered over 2,700 signatures since reports first surfaced last week that a caricature of an American Indian had been painted over recently in the Cherokee High School gymnasium, and the high school’s main sign containing a more standard Native American rendering suddenly disappeared from sight. The developments have resulted in rampant speculation, reflected in local social media groups, that administrators were not only planning to remove all forms of Native American imagery from Cherokee, as well from other LRHSD schools, but also were planning to rename Cherokee, whose students are commonly referred to as “Cherokee Chiefs.” Accentuating the concerns reflected in the petition was the subsequent reappearance of the sign, with its Native American rendering having been replaced by the word “Chiefs.” The considerable consternation all this has created has suddenly brought the LRHSD community headlong into the polarizing national debate over “cancel culture” and
race relations in America, adding to the tumult framing November’s presidential election. In the meantime, a local Native American leader is weighing in on what is and isn’t appropriate in this regard. The reports of the changes at Cherokee surfaced mere weeks after a Cherry Hillbased media group published an editoriallike piece from a sports journalist in some LRHSD communities headlined, “Time to retire Indian team names?” with a subhead, “In wake of Washington Redskins’ name change, schools should examine the issue, too.” The photograph printed with the Cherry Hill-based media group’s piece was that of the cartoonish caricature inside the Cherokee gymnasium. “While Indian nicknames were surely never intended to offend, it’s worth reexamining whether the logos and imagery are honoring a people, or if they’re instead perpetrating an inaccurate, stereotypical caricature,” wrote the veteran journalist of 20 years, Ryan Lawrence, who currently writes for the Sun Newspapers’s South Jersey Sports Weekly, owned by Newspaper Media Group. “It goes without saying that it would be wise to err on the side of not promoting something that may be interpreted as racist.” Given that the district’s other four schools also have names associated with Native Americans (Lenape, Sequoia, Seneca and
Shawnee), conjecture has grown in recent days that the names, mascots, caricatures and logos of these institutions may also be changed soon. “Being a Chief is a proud thing,” wrote Kerry Anyzek as she signed the petition, which was started by Danielle Ford. “Naming buildings after people and groups is a celebratory thing! You are honoring all of these groups by naming our schools after them. What goes with being a Chief is a feeling of proudness, not shame! Where does it end? You want to change the names?! Then I want you to change the name of every street and building in these towns that is named after someone, because I am sure somewhere, someone is offended.” Anyzek urged the LRHSD to “get a backbone,” “stand up for what is right” and “quit bending over for the Liberalists who have nothing better to do than to create an atmosphere of negativity and fear.” “By changing the names, you are creating more animosity, not unity,” she said. Another commenter gave her reason for signing the petition by simply repeating Cherokee’s motto, “Once a Chief, always a Chief.” Principal Donna Charlesworth often recites the phrase at school graduation ceremonies. See CHIEF/ Page 8
MOUNT HOLLY—The Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders, as of Aug. 21, has renamed itself the “Burlington County Board of Commissioners,” and has immediately begun to phase out the term “freeholder” from county materials and communications, instead now calling its five elected members “county commissioners.” The rationale for the decision, according to a press release, was to eliminate the official use of a centuries-old term associated with class distinctions. The recent decision to change titles comes amid a “cancel culture” movement in the U.S. following the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died in police custody in May while a then-Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee to his neck for over eight minutes. Cancel culture is a trend to withdraw support from public figures, companies and institutions associated by some with racial injustices. The movement has become largely partisan in recent weeks, with Republican President Donald J. Trump campaigning against it ahead of November’s presidential election, while many Democrats have been more apt to support it, though Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden has declined to comment on it. Republicans lost control of the Burlington County governing body to the Democratic party in January 2019, after more than four decades of GOP control, and in January of this year, the board fell under absolute Democratic control. Burlington County Freeholder Director Felicia Hopson, in the press release, cited an “urgency to remove symbols of injustice and inequality” given current events. T he press release poi nted out t hat “freeholder” is an Old English term dating back to before the American Revolution to “denote a person who owns land and is free of debt,” which was a requirement to hold public office. “At the time, only white men could own property and serve,” the press release states. Hopson, therefore, contended that the title is “rooted in an era of discrimination and inequality” and must be replaced. “Continuing our work to end systemic racism must be everyone’s objective and eliminating an antiquated title from an era when slavery and racism was tolerated is one step we can take right away,” Hopson said. “Burlington County was a cradle of the See COUNTY/ Page 7
INDEX Business Directory... 12
Job Board.....................14
Marketplace.............. 15
Games..........................14
Local News................. 3
Worship Guide...........11
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