The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is asking the school to abandon the mascot which is an example of “orientalist stereotyping,” reported The Desert Sun .
A national anti-discrimination group is "appalled" that the mascot of Coachella Valley High School in Calif. is a snarling, gold-toothed, heavy-bearded, hooked-nosed, headscarf-wearing Arab, reported The Desert Sun.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sent a letter to the school stating that the Arab mascot is a "harmful form of ethnic stereotyping which should be eliminated." The ADC also started an online petition to remove the mascot.
The school football team's nickname is also the Arabs and belly dancers join their cheerleaders during the halftime shows.
The school has Arabian murals like one of an Arab couple flying on a book. A logo for the school's library emerges like a genie from a lamp. The ADC called these "examples of gross stereotyping" and asked them to be removed.
