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The Robstown Cotton Pickers have gone viral this week.
Reporter Chris Thomasson tweeting a short video clip of the Cotton Pickers football team taking the field on Friday to play London High School, and the tweet went viral. It is important to note that Thomasson was not making any statement with his tweet, but simply sharing the video of the team taking the field, which is a typical part of covering and live-tweeting any game.
Many Twitter users replied and retweeted with strong language to condemn the high school for having Cotton Pickers as their school name and declare it racist. The Robstown community rallied behind their community and team and began defending the school name.
The tweet went viral. It has been viewed over 2.6 million times.
In the climate today, many school nicknames are under attack. We’ve seen several Texas schools change their mascots. Multiple schools with the name “Rebel,” or “Indians” have changed their name. While other schools changed their nicknames, Robstown has kept their name. In fact, the name is a source of great pride for their community.
Robstown, and surrounding areas, are proud of their cotton picking. Mostly a Hispanic community, cotton picking has been the source of income and the path to prosperity for that community. The majority of the Robstown community has been very clear about wanting to keep the name and being proud of the name. However, there is growing outside pressure, fueled by the enhanced media attention this week, for the school to change their nickname.
Do you think Robstown should change their mascot?
