VESTAVIA HILLS H.S. TO KEEP NAME, CHANGE MASCOT

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (AP) – Vestavia Hills High School will remain known as the “Rebels” but will change its bearded, cane-carrying “Rebel Man” mascot who invoked plantation owner imagery.

The Vestavia Hills City School Board on Wednesday approved the superintendent’s recommendation to keep the name the Rebels, but change the mascot’s image.

Superintendent Sheila Phillips says the system will hire an outside firm for help rebranding the mascot. She says the system could create a new mascot entirely or decide that a new version of “Rebel Man” would work.

Some students and residents opposed the change.

Some southern communities are revisiting Confederate imagery in public places after the racially charged killing of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston.