I was very disappointed to read that the Buncombe County Board of Education has closed the door to further consideration of the mascot imagery used at Erwin High School. Only a dominant group, in this case, the White majority, could decide when healing needs to take place and at whose expense.

I thought the questions Monroe Gilmour of the Mascot Education & Action Group raised at the last Board meeting were questions of justice not special interest.

I feel we are beyond using the argument of "tradition" when that tradition is at the expense of others. We need to go for the true healing of a community and society - when one group is no longer used for the benefit of another

I agree with Mr. Gilmour - you cannot have character building and anti-bullying programs when the school continues to disrespect American Indians by using their imagery for sports mascots.

Lori B. Girshick,

Arden