By Red Power Media, Staff, Updated Jan 22, 2016
Whitesboro NY, will finally get rid of the village seal that appears to show a settler choking a Native American man.
On Friday, Mayor Patrick O’Connor of Whitesboro and the Oneida Nation announced the two will meet to discuss creating a new village seal, following the airing of a segment on The Daily Show that poked fun at the logo.
Earlier this month, residents of Whitesboro voted to keep the seal and received backlash over the “racist and offensive” logo.
The seal has been changed slightly over the years so that the settler in the image has his hands on the Native American man’s shoulders, not his throat, but the image, many claimed, still seemed to show the Native American under attack, and people called for the seal to be changed entirely.
@BreeNewsome @AJstream Here's the original seal from the 1800s, for comparison:
books.google.com/books?id=0jtEA… http://t.co/74jGhKMreO—
©̸ Samuel Klein ❦ (@metasj) July 03, 2015
Officials, including the mayor, insisted that the seal was not racist.
Historians in Whitesboro, have long said the seal that dates back to 1883 merely shows “a friendly wrestling match that helped foster good relations” between the town’s founder, Hugh White — an early European settler, and a member of the Oneida tribe — an “important event” in its in settling.
The seal is currently displayed on Whitesboro’s trucks, highway equipment and official documents.
The mayor says he was contacted by descendants of Hugh White’s family, who said they supported the effort of designing a new logo.
Video: The Daily Show: Whitesboro NY (Village Seal)
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