Portland school chose evergreen trees to be its new logo delays vote on the rebrand lynching fears

A high school in Oregon that was considering changing its mascot to that of an evergreen tree is delaying its vote over concerns about potential ties to lynching. 

Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School in Portland was named after a prominent black activist and reporter who documented lynching.

A vote on the new mascot was set to take place last Tuesday but was halted after a director on the board shared concerns from the community over the tree’s imagery with suggestions that a tree might conjure up reminders of hanging people with ropes from branches. 

The Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School, pictured, has postponed changing its mascot to an evergreen tree

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a Pulitzer Prize-winning African American journalist who extensively documented lynching in 1900s

A committee member raised concerns about possible connotations to lynching. The Zoom meeting of the Portland Public School committee is pictured, above

‘I’m wondering if there was any concern with the imagery there, in using a tree … as our mascot? I think everyone comes with blind spots and I think that might’ve been a really big blind spot,’ said Michelle DePass, Portland Public Schools Board of Education Director.

Another committee member said the issue had been brought up during the process but stressed that evergreen trees were not typically associated with the barbaric act.

‘We did talk about it, but we were looking at the symbolism more as a tree of life, than a tree of death,’ said Martin Osborne, who is black, to the Portland Tribune. ‘You could certainly take it either way, depending upon your position.’

Osborne said he believed the idea of using an evergreen as a mascot ‘had nothing to do with the horrible history of lynching in the United States. Lynching trees typically are not evergreens.’  

Michelle DePass, Portland Public Schools Board of Education Director, left, raised concerns about the use of a tree as a mascot. ‘We were looking at the symbolism more as a tree of life, than a tree of death,’ said Martin Osborne, who is black

A teacher defended the choice as a tree ‘characterized by the life-giving force of their foliage, the strength of their massive trunk, and the depth of their roots’

Deciduous trees with large, lower branches were often used to hang black people in the south. 

‘Evergreens are characterized by the life-giving force of their foliage, the strength of their massive trunk, and the depth of their roots—in an individual tree and as a forest of trees,’ said Ellen Whatmore, a teacher and mascot committee member

‘Evergreens are characterized by the life-giving force of their foliage, the strength of their massive trunk, and the depth of their roots—in an individual tree and as a forest of trees,’ said Ellen Whatmore, a teacher and mascot committee member. 

‘They provide shelter and sustenance. They have histories that preclude us and will continue in perpetuity after we are no more.’ 

The decision of having an evergreen as a mascot was chosen by staff and students at the school who submitted more than 400 different nominations.

The list was then whittled down to five which saw the evergreen tree emerge as the frontrunner. 

DePass is to now reach out to the Wells-Barnett family to check that they approve with the new mascot of an evergreen tree before the next scheduled to take place in May.