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Backlash at Cobb elementary school after newly designed logo appears to resemble Nazi symbol, parents say

The new logo was designed by the district for East Side Elementary near Marietta, according to an email shared with parents from the school's principal.

MARIETTA, Ga. — Parents in Cobb County are demanding an apology because of a new elementary school logo they claim resembles a Nazi eagle symbol.

The school in question is East Side Elementary near Marietta. 

A spokesperson for the Cobb County School District on Tuesday claimed the logo wasn't designed with Nazi imagery in mind, but because of backlash, the rollout of the new logo has now been halted.

On social media, the school displays a current logo using an eagle as the centerpiece. On Monday a new eagle logo was sent to parents in an email from East Side's principal. 

"We were just told yesterday that here is the new logo. We didn't know there was a problem with the old one," Stacey Efrat said. 

Efrat's family is Jewish, her two sons attended East Side Elementary and her daughter currently attends school there. She said while the old logo was fine, there is definitely a problem with the new logo.

"We don't understand why this image was chosen, there are plenty of eagle pictures that don't look like a Nazi eagle, and we don't have a good answer," she told 11Alive Tuesday. 

Efrat shared with 11Alive an email from East Side's principal sent to parents around 11:30 a.m. on Monday. She said that is where parents first saw the new logo, amongst information on other updates at the school. 

The principal wrote in the email how the district has been working over the last several years to re-design all of the logos for schools within the district.

But after swift backlash, the principal sent a second email around 10:20 p.m. on Monday. The email included the principal writing, "The school is aware of concerns about these logos, and therefore we have paused to consider that feedback." 

Another East Side Elementary parent who is also a rabbi said the situation should have never reached this point. 

"You can't tell me that not one graphic designer or educator or member of the board didn't see this logo and thought, 'huh, that kind of looks like the Nazi symbol,'" Amanda Flaks said. 

Tuesday afternoon the Cobb County School District sent 11Alive a statement mentioning the roll-out of the new logo was being halted, and referenced similarities to Nazi symbolism being unacceptable, but a spokesperson said the design for the new logo was actually based on the U.S. Army colonel's eagle wings.

Parents 11Alive talked with though said the new logo should be thrown away and they would like to see more than just a statement from the district. 

"I'm disappointed, I'm disappointed and I'm hurt. I would love to see the school district apologize," Flaks said. 

"There needs to be education across the board and there needs to be zero tolerance and we aren't seeing either of those things happen," Efrat said, as she pointed out this incident is the latest example, in her opinion, showing the district needs to be better educated about the Jewish faith.

In 2021, there were incidents of anti-Semitic imagery being drawn in Pope and Lassiter High Schools during Yom Kippur, swastikas were drawn in a Simpson Middle School bathroom and now the East Side logo incident. 

Efrat said each event is more and more troubling. 

"The problem is it is a pattern and it has been a recent pattern in the past 12 months we have had three different anti-Semitic incidents," she said. "We just can't seem to get past this."

Last fall, the district passed an anti-Semitism and racism resolution in response to concerns, but community leaders said they feel the district needs to take stronger actions. 

Here is the district's full statement on the logo created for East Side Elementary: 

"Yesterday, we learned of concerns about a new logo at East Side Elementary. The roll-out of this logo has been halted, and we are immediately reviewing needed changes. We understand and strongly agree that similarities to Nazi symbolism are unacceptable. Although this design was based on the U.S. Army colonel’s eagle wings, stakeholder input has been and continues to be important to our schools.

We appreciate those who took time to share their thoughts and will make sure all input is reviewed as changes are considered."

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