It was sad to read Matt Byrne’s article about the Wiscasset Select Board’s approval of a road name change to “Redskin’s Drive” (“Wiscasset names road after old school mascot,” Aug. 22).

Willful ignorance of the gruesome derivation of the term is petty and childish, but putting a public government imprimatur on such corrosive action is just dishonorable.

For her part, Ashley Gagnon, the resident who requested the renaming, decries political correctness when the issue is actually about the historical misuse of a horrible term by an educational institution. Where is the decency? The respect for the truth?

To paraphrase Selectman Ben Rines, who voted for the name change, “Redskin is synonymous with Wiscasset. Rah, rah, for school spirit.”

David Gaines

Portland


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