What does "Rebels" mean for D-G-F school?

Not cool anymore: the former logo for D-G-F

Very long ago my neighborhood had a naming contest for our street. Our neighborhood was new in Morris. The street sprouted along farmland run by Earn Julius. Julius was an important resident at the time, a diversified farm operator - complete with ducks in the barnyard - and public servant on the school board. I might add he knew the value of a dollar. Such were the preponderance of folks who dealt with the Great Depression. 

It's too bad so many interesting personalities of the community can fade in our collective memory. Many of them left a legacy with their wisdom. The neighborhood that came to be known as Northridge Drive sprouted out by the soils lab. It's easy to notice if you just look north from the highway in front of Homestead/Pizza Hut et al. 

My family's original neighbor to the west was the superintendent of schools, Oscar Miller. It is a fact that Mr. Miller who had a real PR personality left here in a rather ignominious way, having been faulted for some judgment with finances. Nothing corrupt, I don't think. Just questionable judgment. Too cozy with the bankers in town. Let's chalk that up as legend. In my own mind it may be closer to fact but let's put that aside as neither here nor there. 

Our next superintendent probably presented some advantages but he was no PR master. Reminds me of how Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune once wrote that the University of Minnesota went back and forth with its football coaches, from a PR type to a more brass tacks type, and back again! Coincidence? Reusse didn't seem to think so. As a rule I do not believe in coincidences. 

Our neighborhood had the naming contest for our street and thus was created "Northridge Drive." I wonder if our little vote had legal authority. Seemed pretty informal to me. People were more relaxed in those days, had more of a sense of humor. So one of the nominations for our street name was "Rebel Ridge." 

Interesting term: "rebel." Literally it means to fight the status quo on something. That's a generalized definition. In the real world we can think of other things. We might quickly associate the term with the Civil War. Aha, that's pretty inescapable. 

Is this the answer? Revolutionary war?

So it's no wonder that the school which was our opponent for football at Big Cat Friday got caught in one of these disturbing dust-ups. Just like Benson. I was not even aware of the "controversy" at DGF until after the Friday game. Incidentally it was quite a game with the Tigers of Motown winning in triple-OT 34-32. We beat the "Rebels." They're from Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton. 

Hmmm, "Rebels." Well, DGF dug a hole for itself with this one, this nickname I mean. It wasn't just the term "Rebels" that caused a snag. It was the logo. No subtlety with this at all: heavens, a Confederate soldier. The fault here lies with the DGF school leaders who allowed the creation of this in the first place.

I realize that popular entertainment including movies and TV has historically not been so hard on the "Confederates" or "rebels." It was suggesting that these were "Americans" who became victims of an old entrenched culture. They were resisting the forces of history. Maybe the suggestion was "forgive them Lord for they know not what they do." 

 

Coming together

After the Civil War there were all sorts of gestures for "reconciliation." Because, we were all just going to be "Americans" again. We were led to admire Robert E. Lee some, as an exemplary leader and general. An objective view might have been to condemn his memory. So why didn't that happen? Latent racism? The Civil War was fought over slavery. So it was dodgy indeed for DGF to stick its neck out and put forward "Rebels" with the soldier symbol, gray of course. 

The questions floated around and then of course the matter reached a head. Just as it has done in our neighbor Benson. Don't you think the Benson leaders wish this mess had never happened in the first place? I get the impression that Benson needs some work with its extracurricular programs. But they're distracted by the whole "Braves" thing with the feathers. Oh my goodness the feathers! That's just not cool and if you question that, you're just not with the times. 

So what happened in D-G-F? Well, some capitulation to the changing times. But only some. So I wonder if it's enough. They aren't fooling anyone. They obviously want to stick with "Rebels" but they thought a "tweak" will be good enough. And what is that? Ahem, to try to get us to think of a "rebel" as being a Revolutionary War soldier! 

To that I say "nice try" because I have never heard the term "rebels" associated with the Continental Army under George Washington. They were independence fighters. "Rebel" is a new one for that. The DGF approach is nakedly disingenuous. I might accept their argument that it's just so cotton pickin' expensive to change logos and mascots. Benson is holding back to get $ from the "deep pockets" of the state. I suspect eventually that will come through. 

The "Caracal" cat

It would have been so nice for DGF to just change course and come up with a new moniker. There is one totally safe route for this: choose a "big cat." Are any big cat names left that haven't already been overused? Well yes and I'd like to suggest one. How about the DGF "Caracals?" Rolls off the tongue nice. The caracal is very much like a mountain lion. It can be domesticated with some risk. Not recommended.

So here's a toast to the DGF "Caracals" if they would only go that route. 

 

Over-arching view

Do I have to repeat my standard opinion on these matters? I don't see why nicknames and mascots are needed at all! I think they are rather regressive and juvenile. 

 

Epilogue to story

Let me complete my little historical tale about Northridge Drive, where I live. Many moons ago -  is that a politically incorrect expression? - we had our little vote in which "Rebel Ridge" was a candidate. Another one offered in levity was "Snob Hill" but I digress. 

The inspiration for "Rebel Ridge" was the fact that our street intersects to the west with "Yankee Ridge Road." Not sure if Yankee Ridge is an official or non-official name but it sure has been used. I guess people of English stock settled there. 

Northridge Drive goes over to where Dan Sayles has his dog kennels. If you take a right there you can drive all the way to Donnelly on a paved road. And yet a good portion of Northridge Drive is not paved. The unpaved portion can get bumpy and muddy in wet times. 

Our neighborhood is a happy enough place but we don't know each other like we all did in "the old days." I guess that pertains to neighborhoods everywhere. Were the "old days" better? Not sure about that. America let the Vietnam war go on for years. I have never recovered from that.

Is the Trump phenomenon of today any worse? I'll just say that nothing could be worse than the Vietnam war.

Regarding Trump in the present, James Carville in his current podcast notes that people who spend time close to Trump physically say he "stinks." Literally. So Carville presented a theory: "I don't think (Trump) can wipe his ass." Look at the guy. But I repeat: the Vietnam war was worse. 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com