New York Has Put an End to Native American Mascots. The Rest of the Nation Must Follow Suit.
New York has become a national climate leader. Now it sets an example for the rest of America to finally put an end to racist expropriation of Indigenous symbols.
Photo by Boston Public Library on Unsplash
Activism works.
It may be slow, glacial at times.
It’s definitely frustrating.
But as Fredrick Douglass famously proclaimed, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
When progressive critics pushed President Franklin Roosevelt toward more bold legislation to address the 1930s republican Great Depression, FDR replied, “You’ve convinced me. Now go out and make me do it.”
If Dr. Martin Luther King sat around preaching about equality for African Americans but did not engage with the members of the Southern Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the powerful peaceful resistance for which they are today lionized, President Lyndon Johnson arguably wouldn’t have signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 or the Voting Right Act the following year.
One of the reasons the Vietnam war ended was because of overwhelming public opposition.
Fast forward to today.
A primary reason traditionally centrist President Joe Biden is the most progressive he has ever been in his fifty-year political career is because of relentless pressure from groups organized for improving environmental laws, stronger laws protecting reproductive freedoms, fairer economic policies, voting rights, education, gun control, LGBTQ+ rights, and criminal justice.
But it doesn’t start at the top.
It begins locally, at the grassroots level.
New York demonstrated that again this month when the state’s education department handed down a decision requiring all 60 school districts still using Native American mascots and iconography to cease that practice by the end of the current school year.
State Deputy Education Commissioner James Baldwin, who signed the decree, stated in the memo delivered to districts:
Should a district fail to affirmatively commit to replacing its Native American team name, logo, and/or imagery by the end of the 2022–23 school year, it may be in willful violation of the Dignity [for All Students] Act. The penalties for such a violation include the removal of school officers and the withholding of state aid.
He added an exception will only exist if a district obtains approval to retain such symbolism from a recognized tribe.
The memo explains:
Should they require guidance, districts may reach out to those districts that successfully retired their mascots or their local Board of Cooperative Education Services. The Department is developing regulations that will clarify school districts’ obligations in this respect.
Baldwin explained:
In addition to their legal obligations, boards of education that continue to utilize Native American mascots must reflect upon the message their choices convey to students, parents, and their communities.
This is the culmination of years of indefatigable activism intended to retire Indigenous mascots, nicknames, or imagery perpetuating stereotypes.
Of course, with all change, comes resistance.
Mohonasen Superintendent Shannon Shine explained his district is not about to shelve its logo depicting three Native Americans members of the Iroquois Confederacy.
He commented:
While we do not have a Native American mascot or any caricatured images of Native Americans, we do have our logo depicting three Native Americans from the three tribes that our name, Mohonasen, is made up of: Mohawk, Onondaga and Seneca.
He added:
Given the fact that (the state Education Department) plans to issue further specifics on this, we will wait before taking any action.
While Mohonasen shorted its team name from “Native American Warriors” to “Warriors” already, it did not alter its logo.
12 Capital Region districts will have to change their nicknames, mascots, and/or imagery.
According to the Albany Times Union:
Lake George changed its mascot image but kept the nickname Warriors. South Colonie changed its image but kept Raiders, and Mechanicville changed its image to an ‘M’ but kept Red Raiders.
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk has a mascot called the Indian and the image of a stereotypical indigenous person’s head. Waterford-Halfmoon has a mascot called the Fordians with the stereotypical image of a Native American person wearing a feather headdress. Averill Park’s mascot is a Warrior with the image of a spear and feather.
Hoosic Valley appears to have dropped its imagery but has a mascot called the Indian. Corinth’s mascot is the tomahawk. Stillwater’s mascot is called the Warrior with the image of a stereotypical indigenous person wearing a feather headdress. Niskayuna’s mascot is the Silver Warrior. Glens Falls’ mascot is named Indian with the imagery of an arrowhead.
Citing a court decision back in June upholding state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa’s directive to discontinue the Cambridge Central School District mascot, Deputy Commissioner Baldwin explained:
The court’s decision establishes that public school districts are prohibited from utilizing Native American mascots. Arguments that community members support the use of such imagery or that it is ‘respectful’ to Native Americans are no longer tenable.
Referring to a 2001 directive by then-Commissioner of Education Richard Mills stating “the use of Native American symbols or depictions as mascots can become a barrier to building a safe and nurturing school community and improving academic achievement for all students,” state Supreme Court Justice Sara McGinty decided Rosa “determined correctly that the continued use of the ‘Indians’ nickname and imagery, given the 20 years that have passed since Commissioner Mills’ directive, and given the imperatives of the district’s diversity policy, was itself an abuse of discretion.”
There are over 1,900 schools nationwide still exploiting Native American stereotypes.
The Washington Football Team, formerly the “Redskins,” changed its name to “The Commanders” earlier this year instead of the “Warriors,” as was originally considered.
New York has become a national climate leader.
Now it sets an example for the rest of America to finally put an end to racist expropriation of Indigenous symbols.