North Dallas suburb's school board changes nickname from Coons [Racially Offensive]

Some students and parents in the North Dallas suburb had complained the nickname was racially offensive, and the Frisco School Board agreed Monday night, voting unanimously to change the nickname from Coons to Raccoons.

Of several dozen people at Monday night's board meeting, many were vocal in their desire to keep the nickname the same as its been for 78 years. Some wore T-shirts and had signs in their yards reading, "Don't Rac my Coons."

Supporters said they had never learned to use "coon" as a racial slur and were proud of the nickname, created in 1924 when no one attached any racial significance to the name.

"My dad thought it was the greatest thing going, and he is a racist, I'll be honest with you. I never taught this to my children. I don't want them to be a part of it. And I think our children today don't want to be a part of it," Gaffney said.

"I don't see any walls built at our school between our children, and I don't want to start that," Gaffney said.

Coon Memorial Stadium already had been changed to FISD Memorial Stadium. Frisco's water tower will have to be repainted, and T-shirts, bumper stickers and other signs will have to be changed to reflect the new nickname.

Students' reactions varied. "No one has ever said anything, ever, that I know of," said Jenny Forwark, who is white.

But black student LaVaughn Oliver, a sophomore, said, "I have a friend whose grandfather was killed by a Klan member, and he had that etched in on his chest, and it bothered him."

Valarie Blackman, another black student, said, "A lot of what's happening, you have new people moving in who have a tendency to take offense to that, as compared to the people who have always been here."

Track coach Steve Anthony, who is white, told Dallas television station WFAA: "If we're the Powder Puffs and we win football games and track meets, I don't care, that's my opinion. But for the kids to be made fun of, I don't think it's the appropriate thing."

Trustee Jane Whitledge said earlier, "I'm hoping that people understand that using the word raccoon in its full spelling is a way to maintain the tradition."

The superintendent late last week recommended the change, adding, "I feel that all decisions we make must come down to what is right for kids. It's important for students to be able to be proud of their school, and that includes its mascot. If one student is made to feel uncomfortable, that is one too many."

I didn't say in that particular order either, I simply implied that those communities are encountered when going 'north' of Dallas before Frisco is ever even seen ...

Oh, I know you didn't. I only commented on that for those that aren't familiar with the area.

As a side note - one could nearly make it from one of those cities to another while still tacking at least partially north each time (again, not in the order I gave) ...

My point still stands. I wouldn't have been quite so hard on the AP story writer if he had said 'an outlying Dallas suburb' (which it may legitimately be called).

True.

Dallas doesn't even abut Frisco ... were it not for Renner having been annexed into the legal entity known as The City of Dallas (technically speaking) would be even FURTHER away from Frisco (the center of Frisco is approximately 1/3 the way up in Collin county whereas central Dallas is located centrally in Dallas county and the closest the City of Dallas boundary lies to Frisco is only about 1/16 the way up into Collin County).

But that's the mentality of people these days. Pretty soon McKinney, Celina and VanAlstyne will be considered "suburbs" too.

Incidently, I didn't mention "The Colony" (a *real* city), Parker, Hebron, Murphy, Lucas, Fairview or Allen *all* of which are further south than Frisco ...

The Colony. I remember when that place first got started. "It'll never make it," they said. What's the population now? BTW ... I live in Allen. I have yet to hear Allen called a suburb. Go figure.

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