SBHS was founded in 1961. But as Seven Days has previously reported, it was only about 20 years ago that the school retired its Captain Rebel mascot — which was a caricature of a Confederate colonel. It also stopped flying Confederate flags and playing “Dixie” at sporting events. What’s the only thing stranger than a public school deep in Union territory adopting Confederate imagery? Perhaps that the nickname Rebels lived on even amid increasing public concern in recent years.
In August 2015, Confederate symbolism was at the forefront of a national debate. After Dylann Roof’s racially motivated murder of nine black people at a Charleston, S.C., church, the Confederate flag was removed from the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse. In Vermont, heightened sensitivity spurred the SBHS school board to revisit the Rebel nickname. And they did. That October, the board voted unanimously to keep it.
That setback didn’t stop Isaiah Hines. In fact, it spurred him to action. The 17-year-old SBHS senior has led the push to drop the nickname ever since. He joined the school board as student representative last year and is the founder of a student group, the Student Diversity Union, that has advocated for the name change within the SBHS student body. On Wednesday, Hines, the SDU and those with a grasp of American history scored a significant, if belated, victory.
7D caught up with Hines Thursday at a South Burlington café.
SEVEN DAYS: How did you get involved with the effort to change the Rebels nickname?
ISAIAH HINES: When the debate first started in August 2015, I wasn’t very involved. I didn’t even go to the meeting where they decided [to keep the nickname]. I was genuinely too intimidated to voice my opinion, because there was such strong student support for keeping the name. And I guess you could say there still is. But it didn’t feel like an environment in which I could express that opinion. Because of that, I created [the Student Diversity Union]. It’s a safe space for students to discuss race, racial identity and racism.
In January [2016] I applied to be on the school board, because [the nickname] was still a problem for me. And it was the only way I could see to change it. I figured it would be a lot easier to change it from the inside.
In my second or third meeting, I asked what was being done about it. Because when they made the initial decision they had promised a few things along with it. It wasn’t just, keep the name and ignore it. At least that’s what they said. But that is what they ended up doing.
It wasn’t my intent to do so, but I ended up calling them out on it. I was disappointed by what I saw. Basically, they had done nothing of what they said they were going to do. The only thing they did was to create a Diversity Education Committee, which is great. But what does it really do?
SD: The school board voted unanimously to keep the nickname in 2015. At what point did you get a sense that opinion had shifted enough to where changing it might be a realistic possibility?
IH: We held an event in the spring [of 2016] and Mr. [Martin] LaLonde, who is also on the board, said to me that he was not done with the debate over the name. And that let me know that there was still a chance. Because my friends and I, we hadn’t forgotten about it. We still felt strongly about it.
SD: There are strong feelings on both sides of the debate. Have you personally experienced pushback from fellow students?
IH: Absolutely. I think for a long period of time, the majority of students were strongly against changing the name. But the interesting thing was that most of them didn’t really know what the problem was. They hadn’t paid close enough attention during the debate and hadn’t done any research. They thought, I like the name, let’s keep it. #keeptherebelname was trending on Twitter in the area. They didn’t really expose themselves to an alternate view.
So I had people come up to me and be like, “What are you doing, dude? Why do you want to change it? You’re going to mess up our community. We’ve always been the Rebels. Why do you want to ruin that now?”
For a lot of people, it was tied to the sports teams, because that’s where you really see the Rebels all the time. But I’m an athlete and that was part of the reason I wanted to change it. Every day at practice or at a game, it was “One, two, three … go Rebels!” It was a constant reminder that this is a reference to the Confederacy. And I couldn’t stop thinking about that.
SD: So when that rally cry would go up, would you take part?
IH: Usually I would join them, but not say it.
SD: 1, 2, 3 … (cough, cough).
IH: [Laughs] Yeah, that sort of thing. But for a lot of people on the team, it never crossed their minds.
IH: Yes. I’ve been disappointed with the school board’s efforts to educate the community. Because almost no one knows that history unless they have followed the debate or have done research on their own. [The school board] sent out a survey polling students and talking to the community. Those results didn’t mean as much to me because I knew so many students didn’t really know what the issue was. And I know that from talking to students that explaining that history does pretty easily sway people. If you don’t know, then, of course: Why would you change it?
And I know that from talking to students that explaining that history does pretty easily sway people. If you don’t know, then, of course: Why would you change it?
IH: That’s a really common belief.
SD: How did you raise that awareness of the nickname’s Confederate origins?
IH: Social media was a big thing. But the Student Diversity Union was my biggest platform, besides the school board. We host community and school events all the time. We have meetings. We have a pretty big group now — like, 40 students. So we kept the discussion alive within that group and we were able to keep it, to some degree, in the school’s eye.
SD: What was your reaction when the decision was announced?
IH: My first reaction was happiness that they finally made the right decision. But it was a little bittersweet because they had pushed it off for so long. Just the fact that they made the initial decision, despite the concerns from students and people in community — I wasn’t the first person to speak out and they ignored those first people. So yeah, it was bittersweet.
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SBHS should rebrand as either The Refugees or The Snowflakes
Call them the Jets.
The answer is clear. The Rebels have been defeated, their new name should be The Empire.
As an alumnus of SBHS, I applaud this decision. Even when I was going there I never understood why a school in a northern state took a confederate soldier as a mascot. This was WAY past due!
The Rebels name has been associated with South Burlington High School since it’s inception and came about as a result of their seceding from the city of Burlington. A quick search of the word rebel brought many meanings: 1. A person who refuses to accept the governments power and uses force to oppose it, or a person who opposes authority and thinks or behaves differently. (dictionary.cambridge.org), 2. A rebel is a person who stands up for their own personal opinions despite what anyone else says. A true rebel stands up for what they believe is right, not against what’s right. It’s not about smoking crack, drinking till you’re rendered unconsious, or beating the crap out of anyone that crosses your path. It’s all about being an individual and refusing to follow a crowd that forces you to think the same way they do even if it means becoming an outcast to society. True rebels know who they are and do not compromise their individuality or personal opinion for anyone. They’re straightforward and honest and they will sure as hell tell it like it is. (Urbandictionary.com) How ironic – the very name that Isaiah fought to change is how most people would hope their children would grow up to emulate.
Personally, I’m disappointed, but mostly for nostalgic reasons. As an SB alum, I’ll always be a Rebel. But, whatever the outcome, SBHS is still the best damn high school in Vermont!
Fighting Blue Gerbils! Aggressive yet politically safe!
He’s a good kid and he did this for the right reasons. If we cannot recognize leadership capacity and strength of character from his actions then I shudder for our future. Salute from an SBHS alum.
Ethan Allen was not a Rebel. He was a Patriot. Hence the NE Patriots. Let’s not confuse the issue. Thanks to Mr. HInes, the School Board and David Young, Superintendent for this decision.
I’m a REBEL and I’m not even from the South.. The word Rebel doesn’t mean Confederate..There’s a lot of Rebels here in Vt,, So does Hillbillies mean you’re from the South, NO because there’s a lot of Hillbillies here .. So is Vt going to get rid of that word too, like the Confederate Flag..People get so offended over little things..
Shaking My Head, Rolling My Eyes..
I’m a former student from SBHS and I couldn’t be prouder of the school for finally making the right decision to stop associating itself with a symbol of white supremacy (Rebel in this case was absolutely connected to the confederacy) I’m also VERY impressed with Mr Hines; such a strong young leader with a bright future!
A solution which should be acceptable to all concerned: Change the name to “Frontier Rebels” to honor the courageous settlers who came to northern Vermont near the end of the 18th century and helped found our wonderful state. Among them were Ethan and Ira Allen who may have owned the land on which South Burlington High School is situated.
I LOVE the snarky idea of the South Burlington Empire, with a huge round space ship as the mascot!
Isaiah Hines has showed great leadership with the way he has handled this difficult situation.
The Johnny Rebel mascot and name has a terribly racist history in our country; and there is no good reason for this racially charged name to continue in our SB schools.
Mr Hines has done our City, our schools, and our State a great service with his very courageous, and correct position on this very important issue. Thank you sir !!
What is interesting is that no one is talking about the ramifications of Presentism. Presentism is the act of judging historical figures and events by the moral and ethical standards of the present day. In some cases, going so far as to judge the present because of that action. It should be pointed out that this practice is condemned by the American Historical Association arguing, presentism encourages a kind of complacency and self-congratulation. Interpreting the past in terms of the present concerns usually leads us to find ourselves morally superior. Using Presentism to accelerate change is not a valid argument, unless change has in fact not occurred.