New York Village Seal Needs Some Serious Image Rehab

whitesboro image rehab
The seal of Whitesboro, N.Y. — image via Imgur


Sometimes people can be so set in their ways and in their culture that they are unable to see an outside perspective on the matter. We’re currently and explicitly seeing it with the attitudinal shift against the Confederate battle flag, for example. But the image of South is not the only facet of our national existence in need of some image rehab.

The village of Whitesboro, N.Y. has a seal that allegedly depicts the village’s founder, Hugh White, wrestling a Oneida Indian. The village’s official stance on the seal is that the wrestling match “sealed a lasting friendship and confidence” between the village’s founder and the Oneida tribe.

In the image above, we can see that it appears White is choking out the Oneida Indian. Despite the village mayor’s insistence this is not the case, it’s very difficult to look at this as an outsider and not believe the town seal is in need of some image rehab. Even Mayor Patrick O’Connor can understand the concern, as he stated in an interview with Village Voice.

“And if they looked at the seal and went with an opinion based solely on what they’re looking at, I could understand why people would have concern about it. But, [as with] everything else, I think you have to take all the facts into consideration. And if people take the time to do that and they reach out to us, or they do the research themselves, it’s actually a very accurate depiction of friendly wrestling matches that took place back in those days.”

Cliff Matias of the Redhawk Native American Arts Council in Brooklyn has something very different to say on the matter. From Raw Story:

“The first thought that anyone has of this image is, ‘There’s some white guy killing an Indian, strangling an Indian,?’ Matias said. ‘It’s saying, ‘Well, they didn’t just conquer and defeat the people, but they also beat them in a wrestling match.’ It’s utterly ridiculous that a town would have pride in a symbol like that in this day and age.'”

Whatever the intent of the seal, it’s difficult to look at it and not think some image rehab is in order. The controversy surrounding modern usage of American Indian imagery has kicked up in recent years, particularly surrounding NFL Owner Dan Snyder and his insistence in not changing the name and logo of the Washington Redskins.

We do not exist anymore in an age where symbolism such as on the seal of Whitesboro, N.Y. will be tolerated any longer, regardless of original intent. I understand that certain people get set in their ways and become resistant to change. But that still doesn’t mean there aren’t instances when serious image rehab is in order, especially when the image purveyed can be commonly perceived as offensive.

No matter where you are in America — from Seattle to Dallas to Miami to Whitesboro — you are living in an occupied land that indigenous people were murdered for.

A little bit of image rehab is probably the least Whitesboro could do.
 

Robert could go on about how he was raised by honey badgers in the Texas Hill Country, or how he was elected to the Texas state legislature as a 19-year-old wunderkind, or how he won 219 consecutive games of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots against Hugh Grant, but those would be lies. However, Robert does hail from Lewisville, Texas, having been transplanted from Fort Worth at a young age. Robert is a college student and focuses his studies on philosophical dilemmas involving morality, which he feels makes him very qualified to write about politicians. Reading the Bible turned Robert into an atheist, a combative disposition toward greed turned him into a humanist, and the fact he has not lost a game of Madden football in over a decade means you can call him "Zeus." If you would like to be his friend, you can send him a Facebook request or follow his ramblings on Twitter. For additional content that may not make it to Liberal America, Robert's internet tavern, The Zephyr Lounge, is always open