Aztec debate proves best path is often in the middle

In 2017, the SDSU Senate overwhelmingly passed a nonbinding vote to retire the Aztec mascot.

Then came the creation of a task force made up of faculty, students, alumni and community leaders to explore whether using the Aztec was insensitive or even racist. The task force members did their homework and looked at the issue from all sides. They even sent out 200,000 survey forms to alumni, faculty, staff, students and the community to hear their views on the subject.

According to the Union-Tribune, nearly 13,000 people replied. There was lots of support for keeping the name; some alumni threatened to stop sending checks if it was scrapped. But there were also those who opposed the name, and others in the middle who wanted to see a compromise.

In the end, the task force agreed with those who said it was time to sacrifice the Aztec. And it issued a report that said at one point: "No human should be a mascot."

Now Roush has pretty much closed the book on the whole saga by deciding to keep the name but dump the mascot. She also decided that the words Monty and Zuma would no longer be used by the university because, she said, the word play is "very disrespectful of the emperor of the Aztec civilization."

That's the third way. It's also the right decision. But I hope SDSU officials make the effort to understand what this controversy was really all about.

Here's a hint: It's not the Aztec. It was never the Aztec. That poor guy is the symptom of something much bigger. You think most Mexicans, or Mexican-Americans, care one way or another about this silly debate? I'll clear it up for you: They don't.

These sorts of cultural kerfuffles have always been about only one thing: how comfortable some students of color feel at mostly white universities. Oftentimes, they feel ignored, neglected and alienated. They feel their background is undervalued and underappreciated by others on campus, especially the administration. And so they don't want their culture trivialized or ridiculed.

Getting rid of a mascot is easy. Getting rid of that feeling will be more difficult.

========

Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.