Petition Demands LSU Change ‘Racist’ Tigers Mascot

ashley.rae | June 1, 2017
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A Change.org petition is urging Louisiana State University to replace its Tigers mascot because it allegedly “honors confederate militantism.”

The petition, created by an individual identified only “LaMallori LSU,” claims the Tigers is a “racist” mascot and “the most prevalent confederate symbol in the United States.”

According to the petition, the mascot was chosen by “powerful white males” in order to glorify the Louisiana Tigers, a Confederate regiment.

The petition states the Tigers “were known for their propensity for violence on and off the battle field” and that “[t[hey were just as violent to the black slaves they owned, and later even more violent once those slaves were set free.”

The petition claims it is “insulting” for blacks to attend LSU when the mascot “honors confederate militantism.” The petition also says a “day is coming” when “every symbol of white oppression is torn down”:

It is incredibly insulting for any African American to have to attend to a school that honors confederate militantism. It is already hard enough to be black at LSU, and these symbols must be changed. We must speak truth to power, and continue to march toward justice. That day is coming, the day when every symbol of white oppression is torn down.

While the LSU athletics websites does, in fact, confirm the school got its mascot from the Civil War’s Louisiana Tigers, no group at LSU has claimed responsibility for sponsoring the petition and the individual behind the petition is anonymous.

It is also unclear whether the petition is meant to be satire.

The petition, however, comes shortly after New Orleans finished removing the last of four monuments commemorating the Confederacy.

The petition also comes after students at San Diego State and students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas demanded their respective schools change their mascots due to accusations of racism.

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