Date of Award
4-21-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Timberly Baker
Second Advisor
Jodi Elder
Committee Members
Catherine Calloway
Abstract
The topic of this dissertation was Confederate inspired mascots and their relationship with school cultures. The purpose of this qualitative intrinsic case study was to explore how former students of secondary schools in former Confederate states perceived the use of Confederate mascots in public secondary schools, specifically 9th-12th grades, and how the mascot shaped the culture of the school overall. The primary theoretical framework used for this study was Social Identity Theory. The secondary theoretical framework used for this study was the symbolic frame of the four-frame organizational model. This qualitative intrinsic case study included document study and voluntary participant interviews. Participants were former students of schools represented by Confederate themed mascots. The research questions for this study were as follows: (a) What are the lived experiences of students in high schools that utilize Confederate mascots, insignia, or symbols? (b) How do former students perceive the school’s culture and the role that the school’s mascot played in establishing the school’s culture? (c) What are the lived experiences of students in embracing their identities amidst images that may be representative of their cultures and experiences? A latent analysis of the data was performed using descriptive coding. The results of this study revealed that former students experienced feelings of embarrassment and harassment. Former students described the cultures of their alma maters as oppressive, isolating, and exhibiting ignorance. Former students also experienced internal conflicts about their own relationships and identities as related to their former schools’ mascots. Key Terms: Confederacy, mascot, racially insensitive mascot, insignia, the symbolic frame, social identity theory, school culture
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Seat, Jessica, "Confederate Inspired Mascots as Cultural Representatives in Public Secondary Schools of the American South: A Case Study" (2025). Student Theses and Dissertations. 673.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/673
