LI school district sued over new Spartan mascot by NAACP leader: Symbol of white supremacy

This is not Sparta.A Long Island school district is being sued over claims its new mascot, a Spartan, is “a symbol of white supremacy.”William King Moss III, a parent and Suffolk County NAACP leader, says the Brentwood Unified School District’s decision to swap its old, banned, Native American mascot with an ancient Greek warrior is offensive to women and people of color.“This symbol sends the message that enslaving indigenous people and excluding women from the military are acceptable,” said Moss, who has two girls enrolled in the district, to The Post.Moss, who filed the suit this month and is representing himself, argues that Brentwood’s new mascot not only violates civil-rights and state constitutional protections — but also sends the wrong message to students such his daughters.He believes that depictions of Spartans as mascots are “racially problematic” and a “symbol of white supremacy,” according to the court filing — an assertion that angered Long Island’s Greek community.“That person is ignorant.Sparta was more progressive than he knows,” said a Greek pastor, who asked to remain anonymous, to The Post about Moss and Greece’s history.The pastor explained that while there is some truth to his claims — Spartans did enslave entire populations and excluded women from military service — he argued the comparison to white supremacy has no merit.The pastor explained that Spartans did not enslave people based on race and instead captured mainly other Greeks who were conquered in war and forced them into servitude.He also outlined that while women weren’t part of the military, Spartan females actually had more rights than most others in the ancient world — including access to education and owning property — which was not generally allowed in this time period.“I think he just threw it out there, there is really no basis to it,” the pastor said of Moss’s complaints.Moss does have a longstanding beef with the district — ...