This weekend, 10 students from Wiscasset High School are going to make the long journey from home to Pleasant Point in Washington County where they will meet with members of the Passamaquoddy tribe.
We like it. We like it a lot.
We like the fact Wiscasset students are making the effort here and we like the fact the Passamaquoddys are returning that effort. We dare say if more strangers sat down and literally and figuratively broke bread together, it might go a long way toward lowering the volume in our great national debate.
In and of itself, this day-long cultural exchange may not resolve the issue of Wiscasset’s controversial mascot, but it should go a long way to solidifying the abstract concept of offending someone you have never met, or a culture you have just read about. That’s progress.
We also like the fact the RSU 12 board turned the issue of changing the school’s mascot over to Wiscasset.
Ultimately the issue of changing the school mascot should be, and is, Wiscasset’s decision. Some may have criticized the RSU 12 board for not acting unilaterally, but we think the board was right-on to defer to Wiscasset.
It was Wiscasset’s decision to adopt the name in the first place and the decision or not to adopt another one should be theirs as well.
