No more ‘Braves?’ Another NJ school may change its teams’ name

Yet another New Jersey school is considering changing a long-held mascot name over concerns of racist connotations.

Absegami High School, in Atlantic County's Galloway Township, could cease calling its teams "The Braves," athletic director Steve Fortis told the Press of Atlantic City.

"We are reviewing it," he told the Press, saying the name change has been under consideration for months.

The school's mascot, as depicted on its website and in signage, is a dark-skinned Native American man with a white headdress and an earring. The name "Absegami" refers to one part of the Lenape tribe that lived in what's now southern New Jersey.

The mascot name is one of several in New Jersey that references ethnic groups — and one of several that have been targeted for change in recent months, amid heightened discussions of racial justice in the wake of the Minneapolis death of unarmed black man George Floyd under the knee of a police officer.

Some others are highlighted below.