Let's Go Banyans!

My high school mascot was a lion. My college mascot was a bulldog. School mascots are usually designed to inspire fan support and maybe invoke fear in the hearts of opponents. And the choice of mascot can occasionally be weird. Take for example the Cleveland Guardians. Or for that matter, the decision by the New Orleans Hornets to change their name to the Pelicans. And no one has ever been able to satisfactorily explain to me why, when the New Orleans Jazz moved to the much more prim and proper Salt Lake City, the franchise kept “Jazz.” Jazz and Utah have never been synonymous, and probably never will be.

And so I don’t understand why the New College of Florida decided to change its mascot to the “Mighty Banyans.” Yeah, the tree. To be fair, the campus has a number of Banyan trees. And the previous mascot was the “Null Set.” No, really: the Null Set. Don’t ask me; I don’t create this stuff, I just write about it.

The new mascot was unveiled on the first of the month. It is the creation of student artist Anna Lazzara. And I have to admit, she did a good job of making a banyan tree look tough. An announcement on the school’s website stated in part:

The banyan tree is known for its aerial roots, which sprout from branches and eventually reach the soil, and its ability to live for centuries. They are also considered the world’s biggest trees in terms of the area they cover. In a way, the entanglements of the roots and branches all under the vast canopy echoes the interweaving of the past, present, and the future.

“The updated mascot symbolizes the future vision of New College and what we are all working so hard toward,” said Interim President Richard Corcoran. “From strength, growth and longevity, to many branches working as one, the Mighty Banyan is the perfect representation of who we are here at New College, as well who we are aiming to become.”

“When I heard the news that the college was seeking a new mascot, I began to think about what the New College spirit means to me,” said Lazzara. “After much thought, I realized that the New College spirit is the combination of a supportive community and a stunning natural landscape. Both of these things, I believe, are perfectly represented in the form of a mighty Banyan tree.”

Fair enough. Most people have lives and probably could not care less. Unless of course, you are a student that has to swap out all of his or her Null Set spirit gear for the new Mighty Banyan line. Or you are a member of the outrage machine.

Campus Reform notes that just such a person took umbrage at the racist new banyan tree logo, and even went so far as to call for the ouster of interim President Richard Corcoran and members of the Board of Trustees over the matter. In an op-ed in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Robin Taub Williams vented her spleen. She said that the new mascot “depicts a tree that has been anthropomorphized to closely resemble an angry, threatening brown individual.” She even went so far as to evoke images from the Tarzan series, stating, “Though generations have passed, there is no getting around the reality that the ‘Tarzan’ literary series remains one full of vile racial stereotyping, with Black men portrayed as ‘primitive natives’ and ‘savages.’” She also alleges that the mascot looks like “race-oriented memorabilia” from the days of Jim Crow, reinforcing racial stereotypes.

If you go to the announcement for the college, you can see the image in question. It looks like a tough tree with really good biceps. I guess if you are a tree, there is no choice but to skip leg day at the gym. And its color is a sort of yellow-green. Nothing about it says “racism” to the casual observer. Or even Tarzan. That is a true stretch of the imagination — unless the observer wants to see racism.

Incidentally, Williams is a “retired educator” and serves as the president of the Democratic Public Education Caucus of Manasota. I doubt she actually cares about the mascot. But as a Leftist, she is undoubtedly incensed that the college is moving away from the accepted propaganda. And she hates the board appointed by Ron DeSantis.

Related: SMH: Church Apologizes for ‘Racist’ Calendar Cover

Campus Reform points out that the main target in Williams’ sights is board member Christopher Rufo. According to Williams, Rufo is practically Public Enemy Number One when it comes to CRT. She also accuses the board of supporting what she alleges to be DeSantis’ “war on African American history courses and the banning of anything related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Rufo told the outlet, “My advice for white liberals: if you see a tree and immediately think ‘looks like a scary minority to me,’ you might be the racist.”

I couldn’t find a picture of Williams, so I’ll have to take Rufo at his word that she is white. And so it is very feasible her screed was not about white guilt or even antiracism. It was about white, liberal arrogance. Williams is aggrieved and angered that her side has lost power at a college. Such an incursion cannot be tolerated. Lacking anything substantive beyond the fact that she hates the board, the president, and DeSantis, Williams had to resort to a silly mascot to root out “racism.”

On one hand, this kind of desperation is laughable. It shows just how little is left in the progressive arsenal. On the other hand, the fact that someone on the Left is willing to indulge in such inanity is also a testament to this person’s commitment and the belief that her side will ultimately triumph in the end.