Defiant Long Islanders embrace Chiefs, Warriors mascots as NY state threatens to pull funding over offensive team names
They’re showing their fighting spirit.Two Long Island communities are embracing their schools’ Native American-themed team names and history despite a woke mandate – and residents say it’s ridiculous that holding onto tradition may mean losing state aid.The Massapequa Chiefs and Wantagh Warriors have no plans to change their names or imagery by a government-mandated June deadline as locals in the Nassau County hamlets are defiantly wearing team gear and refusing to bow to what they call a tone-deaf attempt at “cancel culture.”“It’s just about erasing history… that’s the problem with cancel culture,” Matt Susco, president of the Wantagh Museum and Wantagh Preservation Society, told The Post.“I can’t believe that it’s actually coming into our hometown and going into the classrooms.
How do you explain this to an 8- or 9-year-old?”The two Native American-named towns, which are fighting the forthcoming ban tooth-and-nail in court, are among 13 school districts being forced to change their traditional names after funding threats from the New York State Board of Regents in April 2023.Prideful Long Islanders find there’s nothing offensive about the names and imagery and say they honor an epic legacy unique to their shores.Al Iaquinta, a former UFC star turned Wantagh-based realtor, said it’s “infuriating” to think about ditching the warrior way at his alma mater.“It makes no sense,” Iaquinta, a former multisport athlete at Wantagh High School, told The Post.“That’s what is so cool about Long Island — that it has this history.”Susco, 46, said Wantagh’s logo shows Chief Wantagh, a Sachem leader who settled the region in the mid-1600s.He reiterated that the mascot’s face is historically accurate.“It’s identical to the actual portrait we have in the museum… to say that’s offensive is incorrect,” said Susco, who graduated from Wantagh High School in 1996 and proudly sports a Warriors tattoo.State Sen.
Steven Rhoa...