Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

The recent recommendation by the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights that sports teams affiliated with educational institutions should change any names or mascots identified with Native Americans is courageous and farsighted. The Commission refused to be swayed by the weak arguments of those endorsing team names such as "Redskins" and "Indians" beneath the cover of "tradition." The Commission opinion admitted in an unusually straightforward statement that "Even those that purport to be positive are romantic stereotypes that give a distorted view of the past."

We are pleased and encouraged and offer our support of this decision. The naming of sports teams after a race of people teaches children that cultural identity is unimportant and can be taken and used by those in authority for whatever ends they see fit. Native American children have been forced to endure taunts regular insults, from classmates and adults. They see their traditions and beliefs turned into cartoon experiences and have history rewritten on school yard playing fields. They have seen "Redmen" fight "Generals" for conference titles several hundred years after their ancestors fought, often to their deaths, trying to preserve their traditional homelands. With its decision the Commission acknowledge the hostile environment such events creates for Native American students. The commissioners have recognized the human faces within the "Indian" names and chosen to replace humiliation with decency, mockery with respect.

This recommendation acknowledges the hostile environment these names and mascots have imposed on Native American children. History has been removed from the classroom and rewritten weekly on courts and fields across the US. The death marches across the Trail of Tears, the unending violations of the treaties by the U.S. government and the horrific trafficking in human scalps by the federally paid bounty hunters have been obliterated by field chants and tomahawk chops, forgotten in the locker rooms of the victorious. It is right and long past time for all Americans to join the Commission in affirming the essential dignity of all people by refusing to tolerate the exploitation of any people.

The fight for equality and justice for the Native American Indian has been the work of the American Indian Movement since it was founded in 1968. AIM has long focused on the broad and deep needs of the Native American population. It has sought justice in cross country marches ending in the halls of power in Washington, D.C. and on the reservations in programs for education and cultural preservation. The AIM activists have carried their message to the streets and to the modern American, whatever the color of their skin. Hand painted signs greet fans outside stadiums and arenas: "People, Not Mascots" and "Save the Game, Change the Name". This latest round, a resounding victory, has been won one game at a time, one letter, one protest, one speech at a time. The schools are a fitting start but AIM will continue its work until all sports and all fans recognize and reject racism, until the profit motive loses its choke hold on the conscience of the team owners and until the ideals of fair play become the reality of the games.

For more information contact Robert Roche, Cleveland AIM Autonomous Chapter, Garfield Heights, Ohio