California may force schools to drop Indian mascots
FRESNO, California (AP) --California may become first state to force
nearly all public
schools to drop American Indian team names and mascots such as Redskins,
Chiefs and
Apaches.
Indians have taken their fight to the Legislature, where a bill to outlaw
such names was approved
Wednesday in its last committee test before going to a vote in the
Assembly.
The bill would force name changes at elementary, middle and high schools
as well as community
colleges and the University of California and California State University
systems.
Outlawed would be Redskins, Indians, Braves, Chiefs, Apaches, and
Comanches, as well as any other
American Indian tribal name.
Under the legislation, a state commission would then add to the banned
list any other names it
decides are "derogatory or discriminatory against any race, ethnicity,
nationality or tribal group,"
and schools would be forced to comply.
Schools across the country have been reviewing and often dropping mascot
names amid increasing
sensitivity about racial stereotypes. But such decisions are usually made
by individual schools or
school boards.
Supporters of California's bill said it is a question better resolved at
the state level.
"When it's decided locally, it can be really divisive, it can be
incredibly time-consuming," said Lori
Nelson of the Alliance Against Racial Mascots, a coalition of civil
rights groups in California. "The
people who are arguing for the change are usually the minority and what
happens to a lot of native
kids, they are targeted by the school. They are harassed and pulled out
of class."
Critics call it political correctness gone too far. They say the names
are meant to honor Indians,
and even some American Indians express pride in mascots that depict their
heritage.
"I'm finding that people are not feeling offended by it," said Jennifer
George, a Hoopa tribe
member and principal of Hoopa Elementary School, about 100 miles from the
Oregon line. The
Hoopa Braves would be spared under the bill, which exempts schools on
reservations.
Assemblyman Richard Dickerson, a Republican from Redding, said the issue
should be resolved
locally. After all, he said, some American Indians in his district would
like to keep their mascots.
"If we begin to write pieces of legislation try to make sure no group of
people is offended by the
actions of another group, my question is where would it stop?" he said.
As the bill now stands, about 100 California schools would be forced to
change names, including 26
Braves, 11 Chiefs, 55 Indians and 4 Redskins. California also has 85
Warriors, which would be
barred if a school combines the name with an identifiably Indian mascot.
A $1 million state fund would help schools pay for changes.
Over the past 30 years, more than half of nation's 3,000 schools with
Indian mascots or nicknames
have changed them, according to the Morning Star Institute, a nonprofit
American Indian civil
rights organization. Stanford University replaced its "Indian" with the
"Cardinal" in 1972.
Los Angeles schools banned Indian mascots in 1997, and Dallas schools
followed suit.
David Yeagley, a Comanche and adjunct professor at the University of
Oklahoma, said American
Indians can use mascots to educate non-Indians about their culture.
"There are 11 states with Indian names, and endless streets, rivers,
towns and counties that have
Indian names. Are they going to remove that, too?" he said. "Where does
this ethnic cleansing
end?"
LaVerne Roberts, a Paiute Indian who lives in San Jose, said she used to
be proud when she heard
"braves" and "Indians" shouted at high school games until another
school's cheerleaders chanted,
"Better Dead than Red."
"That's what turned my thinking around," she said. "People don't realize
how it hurts us. They
don't look at us as people. They look at us as savages and that makes us
less human."
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
--
Andr� Cramblit: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Operations Director Northern California Indian Development Council
NCIDC (http://www.ncidc.org) is a non-profit that meets the development
needs of American Indians and operates an art gallery featuring the art of
California tribes (http://www.americanindianonline.com)
Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate
http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate
Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Sign the Petition.
http://petitiononline.com/Release/petition.html
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