The Courant editorial board recently admonished the West Hartford school board for a decision that eliminated Native American mascots while retaining team names for the Conrad Chieftains and the Hall Warriors.
Coming from The Courant, a purveyor of words, the editorial "Change These Names, Too" [March 20] was especially disappointing and seemed to reflect an odious self-centered view of the lexicon related to human conflict.
For more than 2,000 years, fighters, soldiers and combatants of all kinds have been coming together in conflicts or contests all over the planet. Viking and Mayan warriors and Celtic chieftains are just three examples. American Indian tribes weren't the only warring cultures, not the only cultures to fight ferociously and valiantly. The terms "warrior" and "chieftain" should not be viewed in such a narrow and limiting context.
Lenora Sumsky, Manchester