Why I believe the ‘UP Fighting Maroons’ should NOT change its name
Contrary to popular belief, the ‘Maroon’ in ‘UP Fighting Maroons’ does NOT refer to the school’s color.
Among the member schools of UAAP, UP is apparently the only team carrying a name with no personal qualities. Unlike the other schools that are identified by the competitive nature of their mascots, personified by predatory animals and warriors, UP was merely called by its color.
taken from: UP still the Fighting Maroons (Yahoo! News)
No, Yahoo! news, UP was NOT merely called by its color. “Maroons”, in fact, are runaway slaves from America.
In the New World, as early as 1512, black slaves had escaped from Spanish and Portuguese owners and either joined indigenous peoples or eked out a living on their own.Sir Francis Drake enlisted several ‘cimaroons’ during his raids on the Spanish. As early as 1655, runaway slaves had formed their own communities in inland Jamaica, and by the eighteenth century, Nanny Town and other villages began to fight for independent recognition.
When runaway slaves banded together and subsisted independently they were called Maroons.
taken from: Wikipedia: Maroon (people)
The Maroons were freedom fighters. FREEDOM FIGHTERS. If THAT doesn’t personify the essence of UP culture, then I don’t know what will.
So I hope UP doesn’t change its name. I love our name.
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