Clay Holmes and Brandon Nimmo, who went to high schools with Native American mascots, react to New York's ban
Yankees relief pitcher Clay Holmes holds up a framed jersey from his days at Slocomb High School in Alabama, as assistant baseball coach Joey Williams looks on during a jersey retirement ceremony in February. Credit: Dothan Eagle/Jay Hare
Yankees reliever Clay Holmes went back to his Slocomb, Alabama, high school in February to have his uniform number retired.
Slocomb’s nickname is “Redtops,” which the school website says is a nod to the painted red helmets the football team used when schools wore leather helmets.
But the school’s athletic teams’ logos are steeped in Native American imagery. After the nickname “Redtops” was adopted, an Indian became the school’s mascot. The team’s two current logos are a red Native American in profile with a headdress, and an “S” with an arrow through it and a feather on the arrow. The school’s marching band is called “The Pride of the Tribe.”
Both logos were featured prominently when Holmes had his number “21” retired. If Slocomb High School was in New York State, the nickname and logos would have to be changed.
Holmes, in an interview on Monday, said he was not aware that New York State is banning the use of Native American mascots, team names and logos in public schools.
New York schools will have until the end of the 2024-25 school year to change the names and remove the imagery, according to the state Education Department. The rule went into effect on May 3.
“It's just kind of like where things are going,” Holmes said. “If that's something that people want to be done, if anybody finds it offensive or anything like that, then by all means. I don't think maybe that’s the intent, but if that's the case, if it needs to be changed, then do it."
Holmes, who was the school’s valedictorian in 2011, said “you knew [the school’s logos] had some Native American heritage by the name [Redtops]. It was just part of your sports culture. It was always something that we felt unique and took pride in it because you don't hear other Redtops. It was never viewed in any type of negative way. I think, if anything, it was something that we were proud of."
According to the U.S. government’s 2020 census, Native Americans make up 0.7% of Alabama residents. Slocomb had a total population of 2,082 in 2020.
Another local baseball star, Mets centerfielder Brandon Nimmo, went to a public high school that would have to change its nickname and logo if it was in New York State.
Brandon Nimmo was drafted by the Mets in first round in 2011 out of Cheyenne East High School in Wyoming. Credit: Associated Press/Kathy Kmonicek
Nimmo, who grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, went to Cheyenne East High School. That school’s nickname is "Thunderbirds,” which is a name derived from a Native American mythical creature. Cheyenne East’s logos include depictions of the mythical thunderbird with an “E” in the center.
Colorado also banned the use of “Thunderbirds” in a statewide ruling that went into effect in 2021.
“It does surprise me,” Nimmo said last week. “But I guess if a large portion of the Native American and indigenous people felt like it was a disrespect, then you’ve got to listen and try and have a conversation. I have no idea how long these conversations have been going on or what they've been talking about, or who was offended, but in Wyoming that hasn't been brought to my attention while I was there. It could have changed since I've been gone. But they still are named Thunderbirds, so I don't think anything has really changed there. But the Northeast culture is different than the Western culture, the Southern culture, and so I guess you have to roll with the times.”
Nimmo pointed out that the town Cheyenne is named after the local Native American people and another high school in town, Cheyenne Central, is called the “Indians” and has a Native American on its logo.
According to the U.S. government’s 2020 census, Native Americans make up 2.8% of Wyoming residents. Cheyenne had a total population of 65,161 in 2020.
“We have the Wind River [Indian] Reservation in Wyoming and we have a lot of ties in the West to indigenous people,” Nimmo said. “It was never an issue with anybody that I ever talked to or who grew up in a Native American family. So it’s the first I've heard of it. But obviously the world is changing and views are changing, so things change with the times.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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