SAN LORENZO  (AP) — A Northern California high school has gotten the go-ahead to ditch its Confederacy-related school mascot.
Television station KNTV in San Jose reports that the school board in San Lorenzo unanimously voted on Tuesday night to authorize San Lorenzo High School’s request to replace the cartoon mascot known as the Rebel Guy.
Rebel Guy resembles an Old West scout and became the school’s symbol in the 1990s as an alternative to Colonel Reb.
, who was drawn in the style of a Southern plantation owner. At that time, San Lorenzo teams also stopped displaying the Confederate flag at high school sporting events.
Students and some teachers at the school campaigned to abandon Rebel Guy, arguing that the mascot’s Confederate roots made him an inappropriate representative.
For now, the high’s sports teams still will be referred to as San Lorenzo Rebels.