Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

MICHIGAN - The fact of the matter is this...the schools tell you to work with the boards of education who say they have no authority...that it is up to the school. These are tactics to wear you out.

I have filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights who did a study about the mascot issue a few years ago. They determined that the mascots are a BIG problem and they have a direct impact on supporting racism in schools, and causing American Indian kids to drop out. The Dept of Civil Rights, however, lacked any kind of backbone in issuing an order to remove all the mascots...all they did was "recommend." Only a handful of schools cooperated.

Approximately 60 Michigan high schools continue to use American Indian names and images for their schools...its not just the sports teams. Belding Area High School has the Tribal Tribune student newspaper and the Redskin Yearbook. Cheboygan High School's store is the "Chief's Corner." Chippewa Valley High School (near Detroit) is called the "Big Reds, their student newspaper is the "Tomahawk" and their store is called the "Wigwam," and their yearbook is the "Arrowhead." Escanaba High School calls itself the "Eskymos" (cute spelling, eh?) and their school yearbook is the "Eskypades" (the school doesn't teach spelling very well). Milford High School (in the heart of Michigan's Ku Klux Klan country) is known as the Redskins (and they are fanatics about their prideful tradition): their school newspaper is the "Smoke Signal, their yearbook is the "Totem Pole", and their schools is the "Wampum Exchange." And...its not just public schools either because several Catholic and other private schools are just as ignorant.

We simply cannot take on sixty individual schools and/or school districts. The fact is this: for every high school using American Indian names and images their are middle and elementary schools who associate themselves with that particular high school. That's now about 180 schools...all ages and grades to ensure that from the time the kids are in kindergarten they are taught to be little racists. That's why they want to dress up as Indians for Halloween and have phony-baloney ceremonies in Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, etc. It's part of the picture they have in their collective minds about American Indian people.

We need to address the Civil Rights Commission as one-big group and they are willing to listen.

I need names and contact information and letters of support.

I am approaching this subject and am calling it: The Minstrelsey Era Thrives in Sports and School Activities. (If you are not sure of what the minstrelsey era is: when white performers put on black-face and went about the United States, Canada, and Europe giving performances that created the outrageous stereotypes that continue to plague black Americans.) I need letters (not FAXs or e-mail) of support from as many people as possible to include in the packet of information. If you are willing to write a letter please let me know and I will provide you with my address. The letters can be from out-of-state but at some point we are going to be asked to stand in front of the commission to speak.