And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
The following article sent courtesy of Bob Munson,
thanks..:)
Mon 22-Feb-1999
Federal government steps into schools' Indian mascot debate
By Bob Vitale
Post-Crescent Washington bureau
The Post-Crescent - Fox Cities - News
WASHINGTON - The federal government has stepped into the debate over Indian
sports mascots, turning the usual questions of cultural sensitivity into a
legal matter of civil rights.
In Asheville, N.C., where a 30-foot-tall Indian stands outside Erwin High
School and students compete on the athletic field as Warriors and Squaws,
the U.S. Justice Department is looking into a mother's concern that the
school's symbols helped create a racially hostile environment for her son.
Rayne Merzak, a 1998 graduate, was one of a handful of American Indian
students at the North Carolina school. He called the nickname and its
trappings - pep-rally war cries, mascots in full headdress, cheers to
"scalp" opponents - deeply offensive.
That much is something Wisconsinites are familiar with. Since 1991, 25 high
schools in the state have dropped Indian nicknames and logos after
complaints from American Indidans. Marquette University dropped its Warrior
mascot and changed its nickname.
But Merzak's mother, Pat, wrote to the Justice Department about the issue
as well, and federal civil rights investigators have since launched an
inquiry that will probe how Indian symbols are used at Erwin High School
and whether that use goes against federal anti-discrimination laws.
While the Education Department has addressed the issue before, it's the
first time the Justice Department has gotten involved. Christine DiBartolo,
a spokeswoman for the department's civil rights division, said the
investigation includes the school district's "totality of circumstances"
beyond the mascots alone.
The eventual outcome of the federal investigation will affect only
Asheville and Erwin, and the school district could lose $8 million in
annual federal funding and spend thousands more to defend itself. American
Indian groups in Wisconsin are keeping an eye on the case nonetheless,
hoping it prods the state's 43 remaining Indian-nicknamed schools to follow
the others' lead.
"Any school that has an Indian mascot or logo is creating a hostile
environment," said Barbara Munson, chairwoman of the Wisconsin Indian
Education Association's Mascot and Logo Task Force. "It's creating a
barrier to learning. The Indian student is being treated differently than
the other students."
The arguments in Asheville are the same as in the dozens of Wisconsin
communities that have debated whether to dump their Indian mascots.
Opponents call them demeaning symbols and traditions that would never be
used against other racial or ethnic groups. Those who want to keep the
names, meanwhile, say they're community traditions that aren't meant to
offend.
Opponents of the names call the issue a matter of respect. Supporters
complain of political correctness gone awry.
Wisconsin Atty. Gen. Jim Doyle issued an opinion in 1992 that public
schools with Indian mascots could be in violation of state
anti-discrimination laws "whether or not they are intended to be
discriminatory." Spokesman Jim Haney said Doyle stands by his advisory
today, although his office has never pursued the question as his federal
counterparts are doing in North Carolina.
Under Supt. John Benson and his predecessor, Herbert Grover, the Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction also has recommended that schools drop
their Indian nicknames.
"There's been progress," Munson said. "I see every day people understanding
the issue a little bit better."
But Munson and other American Indians are also frustrated that their goal
of eliminating Indian mascots by 2000 seems to be slipping away. While they
hope legislation expected to be introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature
will force the remaining 43 schools to change their nicknames, Munson said
her task force has a "list of possibilities" that includes class-action
suits and civil-rights complaints similar to the one that started the North
Carolina investigation.
"It would not be OK to do this to any other group of people," she said. "If
we ask nicely for seven, eight years as we have done and we're still not
getting where we need to go, we would consider that."
AN EDITORIAL FROM THE SAME NEWSPAPER THE FOLLOWING DAY:
The Post-Crescent -
Tue 23-Feb-1999
Political correctness isn't the job of Department of Justice
This doesn't seem like a complicated issue, but somewhere and somehow, it
got that way.In our view, if a community deems that the nickname or the
mascot of the local high school team is offensive, then the community
should endeavor to change the nickname.
After all, the feelings and emotions of the community are of paramount
importance in these cases. That's why so many schools - including many in
The Post-Crescent's circulation area - have changed nicknames that were
based on Indian heritage to less offensive names.
We couldn't agree more with those changes. They prove that local
authorities can make good and fair decisions on any number of matters, if
given the opportunity. Just as many other educational issues - building,
spending, codes of conduct, teacher contracts, etc. - are decided on the
local level, so should this issue.
Of course, that would be too easy. Thanks to a case in Asheville, N.C., in
which a mother's concern over a 30-foot Indian statue near the athletic
fields of her son's high school, the U.S. Justice Department is wondering
if such names are creating a racially hostile environment.
The Justice Department will try to figure out if the use of the statue and
other Indian symbols is in conflict with federal anti-discrimination laws.
This has gone a bit too far. The federal government need not get involved
in what should be a case of local jurisdiction. There are other non-Indian
nicknames and mascots - ever heard of the Fighting Irish? The Dons? The
Scots? - that also evoke some ethnic feelings. Will the feds clamp down on
them, too?
It's one thing for state officials to make a recommendation to local
schools on this issue, as Wisconsin Atty. Gen. Jim Doyle and State School
Supt. John Benson have done. They have taken no legal action, but used
their influence to affect change.
Is this an important issue? Sure. Does the Department of Justice have more
important issues to handle? You bet.
Our advice: Let local school boards handle these situations. We don't need
a national standard for political correctness.
� Copyright 1999 The Post-Crescent. All Rights Reserved.
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