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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; \"The Arab\" mascot is a sign of respect to Arab nations, said the high school's president of the alumni association. (CNN)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;An Arab-American civil rights group is asking a Southern California high school to change its mascot -- \"the Arab\" -- citing \"gross stereotyping,\" and the two sides will hold a meeting on Nov. 21 to discuss the matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to a report Thursday from CNN, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said it was \"shocked to learn that the Arab\" was the official mascot of Coachella Valley High School, a tradition that began in the 1930s, according to the report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a letter addressed to the school in November, the committee said the use of \"the\u00A0Arab\" as a mascot is bad for Arabs and Arab Americans:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"Continued use of the 'Arab' mascot perpetuates demeaning stereotypes of Arabs and Arab Americans. Coachella Valley High School's gross stereotyping cannot be tolerated.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to the letter, a \"female dressed as (a) belly dancer entertains the mascot by dancing for him\" during halftime at the school's games.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SI WIRE: H.S. football team forfeits after players chose farming convention over game&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The district's Superintendent, Daryl Adams, said in response to the letter that it's important to consider the opinions of \"other groups and cultures.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"We're very sensitive to that and how we're going to work to make sure, maybe sometimes you should have some consultations when we're working with other groups and cultures.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rich Ramirez, president of the high school's alumni association, took a slightly different stance on \"the Arab\" mascot:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"It wasn't to discriminate, it was to say 'hey, thank you Middle East, Iraq, Algeria. This what we like to do. And we're proud of being Arabs.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These discussions come at a time when the NFL's Washington Redskins face mounting pressure to change their moniker for similar reasons.\n&lt;strong&gt;SI WIRE: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell meets with Redskins owner about team name&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2013/11/07/arab-mascot-california-high-school>