Boyle County High School’s site-based decision-making council took a step in the right direction Thursday when its members voted unanimously that the school’s Rebel logo would be a thing of the past.

The logo depicts a Confederate soldier riding a horse into battle as he waves his sword in the air. For some, this image represents a person ready to fight a battle, to stand up for their school. For others, it represents a time when people were not treated equally or fairly, and a time when Black people were not treated like people at all.

Those times, in part, are thankfully behind us. Sadly, they are not completely gone.

Removing the horseman logo from Boyle County High School was a positive move by the SBDM council, and we applaud it. Still, we believe another step needs to be taken.

We realize the tradition of being a Boyle County Rebel is a source of pride for many who have played on the athletic courts and fields, as well as for those who have cheered those teams on to victory. But we should no longer take pride in being represented by a logo or a moniker that stir emotions of oppression, violence and hate among any of our citizens.

People being treated unfairly based on their race can no longer be tolerated. If our county high school’s mascot evokes feelings of oppression and thoughts of times when racism was acceptable, then we feel having the students of that school called Rebels also needs to be a thing of the past.