When I began teaching at Hays High School in 2008, the Confederate flag had just recently been removed from the school. It would not be officially banned from the school until 2012, and the fight song would not be changed until 2016. Of the flag, the song, and the mascot, only the mascot remains, and its presence is getting harder to defend with each passing day.

Generally the defenders of the name Rebel use one of three justifications.

“It’s tradition.” The best traditions honor...