'Hawks' is Hamlin Middle School's excellent new name and solution
Hamlin Hawks. The name is catchy, alliterative and simple. But most importantly, it solves the problem posed by Rebels, the team and mascot name used by Hamlin Middle School since 1953. And it does it constructively, by a vote of students, parents and faculty, the result being a lesson in democracy, problem-solving, team-building, dignity and respect.
There just was no way to separate "Rebels" from the name's Confederate connection, though the school took a few inadequate stabs at it over the years, such as removing the Confederate flag and making the Rebel logo's uniform blue. Those alterations couldn't wallpaper over the the name's origin.
The white men who chose "Rebels" for Hamlin had been educated separately from black people, in a culture that taught them that their race and gender were superior. The prevailing culture of that time venerated the Confederacy as a noble cause, a rejection of tyranny, rather than what it really was — a treasonous, bloody ploy to preserve slavery. The decision-makers who chose "Rebels" didn't concern themselves with what black people might think of it. At the time, black people had no voice. At the time, lingering resentment at having lost the Civil War, and at black people's transition from slaves to citizens with rights, had become so institutionalized that glorification of the Confederacy was mainstream throughout the South and in a few of the other states.
Unfortunately, this fuller context for why the Rebel name needed to change did not inform the initial responses of much of the Hamlin community when the Corpus Christi ISD removed the logo. The district did it with no forewarning, in response to an email from a concerned citizen. Students, their parents and perhaps some of their grandparents had grown up with the name and had learned to associate it with school pride and team spirit. Students of various ethnic origins and skin colors embraced it and either didn't know about or ignored its sinister origin. Many protested the name change, rationalizing that they could be Rebels without being Confederate about it.
This display of resistance as a byproduct of generational indoctrination made perhaps the strongest argument for doing away with the Rebel name. If bygones indeed are bygones, the best way to demonstrate it is to do what is being done — break with an insidious bygone tradition and make a new, positive one.
Hawks are swift and intelligent. They can fly, high. Their eyes are like dogs' ears in that they see what our best fighter pilots can't, like dogs hear what our best musicians can't. "Hawks" is a name that exudes strength without also being a name that denigrates people. The worst that can be said about Hawks as a label is that it's a descriptor for politicians who want to maintain and use a strong military. We had to reach for that one and it doesn't seem like a deal-breaker.
Hawks also are a bargain. The cost of the change is estimated at $5,000.
Changing the name to Hawks does not rewrite history. It is its own step in the march of history, toward a more enlightened future. The students of tomorrow should study this chapter.