Arab Americans expressed direct concern to the Coachella Valley Unified School Distric

Recently, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) expressed direct concern to the Coachella Valley Unified School District, over the use of “Arab” as the team name and mascot for the Coachella Valley High School (CVHS), located in Thermal, California.

The CVHS mascot, the “Arab” depicts a man with a large nose, heavy beard, and wearing a Kaffiay. This imagery is plastered and advertised all over CVHS’s athletic facilities and at sporting events. At CVHS sporting events, a student dressed as the “Arab” is present. During half-time shows at sporting events, the “Arab” performs, while a female dressed as a belly dancer entertains the mascot by dancing for him. The attendees and participants at these sporting events clearly show orientalist stereotyping of Arabs.

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http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/6/arab-americans-cryfouloversoutherncaliforniahighschoolasmascot.html