Oregon bans American Indian team names, mascots for schools

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Oregon bans American Indian team names, mascots for schools

By Teresa Carson

PORTLAND, Oregon | Fri May 18, 2012 7:18pm EDT

(Reuters) - The Oregon state board of education has banned public schools from using American Indian names and mascots for their athletic teams, out of a concern they disparage native American people.

The move is believed to be one of the nation's most sweeping prohibitions of its kind in favor of native Americans who say their culture is stereotyped by a number of sports teams.

It follows years of controversy surrounding a range of teams, from the Cleveland Indians in Major League Baseball to the Washington Redskins of the National Football League.

The Oregon Board of Education voted 5-1 on Thursday to prohibit public schools from using names, symbols or mascots such as Redskins, Savages, Indians, Chiefs or Braves, although Warriors can still be used. The decision does not apply to colleges in the state.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/us-usa-mascots-indian-idUSBRE84H19L20120518

[UnrepentantLiberal]

1. Good for them.

It is insulting. This thread should attract some trolls.

[EFerrari]

2. I went to Fremont High School and without a speck of irony, our teams were the Indians. n/t

[braddy]

3. Words like warrior, and chief are centuries old European words describing themselves.

[Nye Bevan]

4. Anyone who attends an Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs, or Washington Redskins

game, is a despicable racist who has no respect for indigenous peoples.

[Cave_Johnson]

5. In the short time I've been here...

... I seem to have lost all ability to tell sarcasm from seriousness.

Your Mets avatar gives me a glimmer of hope though...

[Fumesucker]

8. Welcome to the hall of mirrors that is DU!

DU is about the second or third snarkiest place I've found on the intertubes..

[Ron Obvious]

6. And yet...

And yet I hear nobody complaining about my ancestors, the Vikings, with their horned helmets. Also, was it the Minutemen who were forced to change their name because it wasn't "inclusive" enough?

Modern society makes me laugh.

[dflprincess]

7. Trust me, if the Scandanavians in Minnesota had complained about the team being called "Vikings"

it would have been changed before the first t-shirt had been printed.

Several years ago the state lottery was running a commecial with a character using a stereotypical Scandinavian accent. The Sons of Norway complained and the ad got yanked and an apology issued.

[Ron Obvious]

10. Sure...

But nobody complained about the Vikings stereotype until Olaf the Hairy ordered 80,000 battle helmets with the horns on the inside.

Also, see the Fighting Irish with their Paddy O'Leprechaun stereotype. An Irishman is never at peace unless he's fighting.

[hifiguy]

15. A friend of mine who is Irish once told me that

the Notre Dame Fighting Irish leprechaun mascot looked just like his uncle Mike.

[dflprincess]

16. At the time Notre Dame adopted the "Fighting Irish" name the majority of the staff and student body

were Irish (or of Irish descent). I doubt they would have adopted the mascot if they found it too offensive.

I'm of Irish descent and it doesn't bother me - though some of the crap that goes on around St. Patrick's Day makes me crazy and I've never been real happy when a website allows someone to use a screen name that perpetuates a stereotype.

[RZM]

12. One big difference

A very large portion of Minnesotans can trace their ancestry to Scandinavia, whereas very few Oregonians have native ancestry.

I'm not saying that means they shouldn't have done it, but it's a very different dynamic at work.

[Brickbat]

20. Any time you want to put together a movement to get the Vikings to change their name out of

sensitivity, you can go right ahead and knock yourself out.

[panader0]

9. I am one eighth Crow

and can't see the offense in Indians or Braves
Redskin, maybe
Savages, Chiefs and Warriors are in many different cultures.

[hifiguy]

17. I don't see anything disrespectful in "Indians" or "Braves"

"Redskins" is whole different issue, but the name has been attached to the team for so long I doubt it will change.

The Cleveland Indians were renamed the "Indians" as a tribute to Louis Sockalexis, the only man ever killed in a major league baseball game. He was hit in the head with a pitch back in the days before batting helmets and was of Native heritage.

[Fla_Democrat]

11. F L O R I D A. S T A T E.

Florida State, Florida State, Florida State.. Wooo

[arely staircase]

13. the worst of all is redskinsp

How is that different than making African Americans your motto and calling yourself the darkies?

[Nye Bevan]

14. Definitely. I particularly dislike the surplus "p" on the end (nt)

[arely staircase]

18. sorry if that interfered with your ability to understand it nt

[Nye Bevan]

19. Apology accepted.