Nia Eberhard, Rosie Moran, Emma Odette, Gabriela Carrera, Sasha Hernandez, Gianna Valicenti, Zoe Martin 

Two thousand and twenty is the year for change. As minority groups in America are demanding their voices be heard we want ours heard too. There have been marches, speeches, murals, and other forms of protest to voice the change that needs to happen. In Weehawken change needs to be done too. The Weehawken Indians will finally be no more.

Weehawken is a racially diverse town. We have residents from every background and our numbers are only growing. How can we brag about being open to all races, ethnicities, and identities but, yet we pride ourselves on having a Native American mascot? We call ourselves the Indians without understanding that this is a derogatory term to all indigenous people. The Native Americans that resided in Weehawken were the Lenape, by calling them what European settlers mistook them for is contributing to the erasure of their history.

If we want to see revision we must first look at our communities. The Native Americans were here first. We live on the land the Lenape cultivated, it is only right that we honor them by changing our mascot. As we enter a transformative time in our country, systemic racism and the oppression of BIPOC will finally come to an end. We so proudly call ourselves the Indians without knowing that we are disrespecting indigenous people throughout the Americas. As Weehawken High School enters a time of reform, it would be inappropriate for a school that is so diverse to be behind on the future of this changing nation.