Tarbabes – Compton (CA) High School

Whoa! I’m not sure I wanna touch that one.

Luckily, it’s not what I thought at all.

Turns out the high school was once associated with a community college. And the latter’s mascot was a Tartar. With me so far?

Now, you may associate said mascot with a sauce served with fish, what’s scraped off in the dentist’s office, or perhaps raw hamburger. It also, however, describes a member of a Mongol tribe – and, thus, something suitably fierce enough for a mascot. In fact, it’s also used in general to describe a person “with a generally bad temper or an unexpectedly formidable individual.” Even better.

Now, back to the high school… Seeing as the community college were originally the Tartars, the high school began calling themselves the Baby Tartars. Somehow or other that became the Tartar Babies, and eventually the Tar Babes and then the Tarbabes.

You’re probably familiar with Compton. It’s actually pretty notorious. It was the turf of the Bloods and Crips, and was once known as the “Murder Capital of the United States.” It’s also the home of gangsta rap, including NWA (who did Straight Outta Compton), Easy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Coolio & Kendrick Lamar.

On a more wholesome side, it was also home to actors James Coburn and Kevin Costner, Hall of Fame baseball player Eddie Murray, and Venus & Serena Williams.

The high school dates all the way back to 1896. Today, it has 1,300 students. Surprisingly, it is now 80% Latino. Some famous alumni include actress & singer Polly Bergen, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle & baseball player Duke Snider.

You know, Candice’s mom

By the way, in case you couldn’t tell from the pic at the top, the Tarbabe is wearing a diaper.