essay by Denise Minor
On the surface, this story appears to be about a disagreement over the T-shirt design chosen to commemorate this year’s Almond Bowl, the cross-town football game that each fall marks athletic rivalry between two local high schools.
But beneath the surface, the story is really about how we, as individuals and a society, choose the symbols and imagery we find acceptable to represent ourselves to the rest of the world. And beyond that, it is about the divisions between whom we view as “us” and “them.”
Some background: Every year the Chico High School (CHS) Associated Student Body holds a design contest for the T-shirts and sweatshirts that students and fans wear to the big game against Pleasant Valley High School. This year’s game falls on Nov. 1, the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead. Given that coincidence, a club for Latino students called VOCES Latinxs came up with the idea of combining the school’s panther mascot with some typical Day of the Dead design touches. (In English, “voces” means “voices.”)