In 1983 the University of Nevada-Las Vegas replaced its Confederate mascot with a mountain man bearing a striking resemblance to Yosemite Sam. The cartoonish mustache and complete lack of Confederate garb, however, were not enough to save him from administrators, who last week removed a statue of the mascot following student complaints about its “racist roots.”
UNLV president Marta Meana announced on June 16 that the school would remove a statue of the “Hey Reb!” mascot from its alumni center, citing the national civic unrest and petition to remove the “racist” mascot.
“I wanted to let you know that the Hey Reb! statue in front of the Tam Alumni Center was taken down this evening. In recent conversations with the donor we mutually agreed it was best to remove the statue and return it,” the statement reads. “Over the past few months, I have had discussions with multiple individuals and stakeholder groups from campus and the community on how best the university can move forward given recent events throughout our nation. That includes the future of our mascot.”
The announcement followed a pressure campaign organized by ex-Salon writer and assistant professor David Morris. Morris claimed that the cartoonish mascot depicted in the statue must be removed because its predecessor sported a Confederate uniform from 1968 to 1976. – READ MORE
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