South Burlington residents who want a public vote on the Rebels name change won a round in court this week.
Vermont Superior Court Judge Robert Mello cleared the way for a lawsuit on the question to go to trial, and he denied the school district’s motion to dismiss the case. Members of a group called the Rebel Alliance raised funds for the lawsuit.
The 19-page ruling, issued Tuesday, generally supported the residents’ argument that the school board violated the Vermont constitution by refusing to put the name question on the ballot after at least 5 percent of city voters signed a petition calling for a public vote.
The ruling suggested that the school board could be ordered to put the question on the ballot.
“If the facts relied upon by the Plaintiffs turn out to be true, then Plaintiffs would be entitled to an order in the nature of a writ of mandamus compelling the South Burlington School District to put Plaintiff’s ballot question to a vote by the electorate,” Mello wrote. “The District’s duty to put Plaintiff’s ballot question to such a vote is imposed by the Constitution and is certain, clear, and non-discretionary. “
The school board voted in February to change the name after critics said it had racist overtones involving the Confederacy. Defenders of the nickname said it was a harmless tradition that dated back to South Burlington’s rivalry with Burlington, slightly to the north, and had nothing to do with the Civil War. Whatever the origin, at times in the school’s history students waved Confederate flags and played “Dixie” at football games.
A few months after the vote to drop the name, the school district adopted a new mascot, the Wolves. Student athletes have been playing under that name since September.
The ballot question would be advisory. It asks if all South Burlington sports teams should be known as the South Burlington Rebels and if the school board should be required to retain the name. However, even if the majority of voters say yes, the school board would not be legally obligated to obey, district lawyers argue.
District attorney Pietro Lynn had argued that since the question is advisory, the argument to put it on the ballot is weak. He also cited case law in which the courts upheld the city’s right to reject an abortion-related ballot petition years ago on the grounds that elected city officials had no jurisdiction over the question.
But Mello wrote that the abortion case was not parallel, and that the Rebels question directly relates to the school board’s responsibilities. Read the full decision here:
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Bravo- fight on
all this political correctness is bull
Any grown adult that is this upset over the name change of their “High School” should seek out help from a qualified mental health professional.This is a total waste of time and resources.So much good have been done with this money! A Lawyers wet dream.
Given that the name “Rebel” is so easily open to being misconstrued, and that so much of the rhetoric of the past year shows that defenders of the term are construing it in exactly the most negative way and being amplified by students in some cases, exacerbating tensions in the school, is it maybe time to honor the school’s decision and move on? There are a lot of other names with historical relevance to Vermont’s tradition of independence that could be chosen.
1.
a person who refuses allegiance to, resists, or rises in arms against the government or ruler of his or her country.
2.
a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition.
There is no compelling reason to keep any name that bears abusive connotations. Given that in our lifetimes black people have been marginalized, murdered, denied housing, denied employment, denied basic human rights, it doesn’t seem like a huge ask to not have names used to glorify those who fought to enslave black people.
This world almost succeeded in wiping out an entire race, and there are no nazi flags waving in any of our schools. I wish I could say the same for the confederate flag. I wish I could say there are no nazi or confederate flags flying in any government building in America.
Sadly, today there are still tens of millions of Americans who worship these symbols of hate and want to eliminate non-whites and non-christians, so the rest of us need to step up. Step up to make clear symbols of hate and intolerance are unacceptable in our government and public spaces.
Why is this even controversial? Rebel has many meanings, so does nazi, so does confederate. Let’s give the benefit of the doubt to not continuing to traumatize those who have been terrorized by earlier generations of Americans. I hope we’re better than that, Vermont stands for better than that.
I’m going to echo what others have said. The name “rebels” and mascot is racist. If you are confused about this, please use Google. Or you could ask one of the very knowledgeable social studies teachers in South Burlington. The name is linked to the Confederacy and keeping the name would be doing harm to PoC in your community and all over America. The racism needs to end. I understand that change is hard, but keeping the mascot and name is the cowardly thing to do. If you want to be a role model, make change happen and show how brave you are by embracing humanism and social justice.
Dear South Burlington residents who wish to go back to the Rebels mascot,
Whether you mean it this way or not, the term IS associated with the confederacy and with the confederate flag. The rebel or confederate flag symbolizes the terrible idea that Black people are less than human and deserve to be tortured and enslaved. Do you really want your school and its sports teams associated with the absolute worst aspects of our American history?
What truly makes this country great? Looking at our history, and our present, with clear eyes and caring hearts. Having the courage to admit when we are wrong, and the resolve to do better, today and tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Someone committed to ending White Nonsense
South Burlington – it is time to move on from the past to the future. You have wasted about a year fighting to maintain a name based on the loosing side of the civil war which was fought to preserve slavery. Might i remind you – the South LOST and Vermont fought on the side of the North. The only battle of the Civil War in Vermont was a pathetic botched bank robbery. ….And we are wanting to memorialize this history ?
Lets put racism and white supremacy in the past and purge it from our present.
I am so disgusted by all of this rhetoric. We do not get to decide that because we live in VT that the word Rebels does not have racist connotations and meaning. Intent is not the only thing that matters here, IMACT MATTERS. Its like calling someone a racial slur and then saying that you intended it to mean something else aside from the commonly known meaning to justify your use. White Vermonters who think we are past racism in VT…News flash white people have no say in whether we are or not and white people have no say in how communities of color understand the communities use of the word rebels. When we push for votes in things like this, and Majority rules etc. we support keeping the status quo and continue to oppress community members who do not have a majority population and reminde them ever so loudly that their emotional safety while attending Their high school does not matter. The fact that alumni want to do that tomcurrent students is beyond me, community members are adults and adults should be for protecting all community youth! Im ashamed of the adults involved in this lawsuit and the Rebel Alliance for putting their own wishes above the emotional safety of SB students of color!
If the reporter had read the order (or papers previously filed in the case), she would have learned and she had not known already, and could have reported, that the plaintiffs have alleged that the board made a decision based on the superintendent’s nonpublic recommendation, that the board made the decision without making public the results of its own survey showing that students overwhelmingly supported the name Rebels, and that the superintendent acknowledged that he and the board deliberately did not publicize the boards intention to eliminate the name? An enterprising, even an ordinary, reporter could easily verify these facts, or at least ask the superintendent and board members about them.
The reporter also neglected to convey that UVM emeritus professor Frank Bryan, a well-known local luminary, wrote of the board’s decision that there is no state in the Union where the term rebel has a more generic and positive meaning than it has in Vermont and that the board got it horribly wrong. Worse, it smells like grandstanding. See us! Were fighting racism!
Also, readers may want to know what evidence there is of the alleged Confederate flag/Dixie incidents and when these incidents are claimed to have occurred. Was it five years ago, or 35 or more years ago? And if those incidents occurred, why did they stop?
Curious readers are waiting?