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| Legislation covering ethnic mascots at least makes us stop and think |
12/31/98 |
| Hank Johnson | Athens Daily News (GA) |
| "A resolution introduced recently in the Georgia General Assembly reminds us once again of the distance yet to be traveled before members of diverse racial and ethnic origins more fully understand and relate to each other" | |
| Oklahoma City University athletes will no longer be 'Chiefs' | 12/10/98 |
| Linda Green | United Methodist News Service |
| "Athletes at United Methodist-related Oklahoma City University will no longer be known as the "Chiefs". The name, used by the school since 1944, will be dropped in May and a new logo and mascot will be introduced for the 1999-2000 academic year." | |
| Group discusses Warrior mascot | 12/07/98 |
| Charles Polansky | Fort Worth Star-Telegram |
| An American Indian parents advisory group for the Grand Prairie school district met with the woman who affected changes to the Dallas school's "Indian" mascots as they begin to consider if similar changes might be appropriate for their district as well. | |
| Protests cause reassessment of Dallas schools' Indian mascots | 12/05/98 |
| Mary Doclar | Fort Worth Star-Telegram |
| "The incident (led to) a complaint that resulted in a major decision: the elimination of all Indian mascots from Dallas schools. By the end of this school year, all evidence of Indian mascots, logos and imagery at 10 schools will be gone, school officials said." | |
| IUP wrestles with dropping 'Indians' name | 12/05/98 |
| Milan Simonich | Post-Gazette |
| "Indiana University of Pennsylvania, an oddly named school searching for better ways to market itself, will decide by March whether to drop Indians as its team name." | |
| ASSU President seeks to change school mascot | 11/19/98 |
| Emily Wilson | The Spectator |
| Suggesting that its "Chieftain" mascot is unacceptable and should be changed, this controversy at Seattle University, which began in 1991, is rekindled. | |
| Gagliardi Caves Into Pressure From American Indian Movement | 11/19/98 |
| Joe Mitko | Athol Daily News |
| Despite attempts to stifle input, the chairman of the Athol-Royalston School Committee (Massachusetts) wisely opts to share a communication from the American Indian Movement concerning the school's "Red Raiders" nickname and demeaning "Indian" logos. | |
| Mascot lawsuit dropped | 11/17/98 |
| Marianne Zahn | GazetteNet |
| "A lawsuit challenging Frontier Regional School's Redskins mascot has been dropped, in return for a delay in the naming of a new mascot until October 1999. " | |
| The Redskins Lawsuit | 11/16/98 |
| Editorial | GazetteNet |
| "The lawsuit will needlessly prolong the controversy, and it may open the door to a challenge of dozens of other votes the committee has taken over the years. It's a tactic that doesn't have the best interest of the community at heart. It's time to let the Redskins go. " | |
| Speaker calls for Brazil's resignation | 11/13/98 |
| Emily Adams | Bradley Scout Online |
| Michael Haney, an activist with the American Indian Movement (AIM) and the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media, calls for Bradley students to petition for a new mascot and the resignation of that university's president. | |
| Frontier sued over mascot | 11/11/98 |
| Marianne Zahn | GazetteNet |
| Displaying an almost cult-like obsession with their school's "Redskins" mascot, hardcore zealots in Deerfield, Massachusetts, deparately start a lawsuit in the hope of preserving that nickname. | |
| No changing minds on mascot | 11/03/98 |
| Marianne Zahn | GazetteNet |
| As the Frontier school district in Deerfield, Massachusetts, plans to implement changes to its school's mascot, many residents seem to favor retaining the "Redskins" nickname. | |
| Not for Sport | 11/01/98 |
| Barbara Munson | Southern Poverty Law Center |
| In conjunction with National American Indian Heritage Month, the prestigeous Southern Poverty Law Center features this important item by a leading mascot issue advocate fromWisconsin. | |
| Chief Illiniwek draws protest from students at U. of Illinois | 10/16/98 |
| Ross Siler | Daily Northwestern Online |
| "The protest movement has gained campuswide attention and commentary from numerous Native American groups across the country over the depiction of Indian heritage in UI's school symbol." | |
| Groups plan anti-Chief rally at UI homecoming | 10/16/98 |
| Paul Wood | The News-Gazette Online |
| "On game day, three groups – The Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative, Alumni Against Racist Mascots and People Against Racism, all led by Teters and Giago – will march from Foellinger Auditorium to Memorial Stadium." | |
| Methodists might move convention due to Wahoo |
10/06/98 |
| Jim Carey | Beacon Journal Online |
| "The (Methodist) commission (on Race andReligion) has voted to urge the church's top legislative body to move its planned 2000 General Conference, scheduled to be held in Cleveland in May 2000, because of objections to the Chief Wahoo mascot." | |
| Cleveland's baseball mascot draws fire from racial monitoring group | 9/30/98 |
| Contact: Joretta Purdue | United Methodist News Service |
| "A United Methodist agency is asking that the denomination's top legislative body not meet in Cleveland in the year 2000 because of depictions of Native Americans by the Indians baseball team." | |
| Use of Indian mascots shows lack of respect | 9/28/98 |
| Charles Whitcome | The NCAA News |
| "The NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee joins with organizations such as the National Congress of American Indians, the Inter-Tribal Council of United Indian Nations in Oklahoma, the National Rainbow Coalition, the NAACP, the Center for the Study of Sports in Society and others in advocating the elimination of Indian mascots and ceremonial rituals in conjunction with collegiate athletics." | |
| Chemeketa gets rid of Indian mascot | 9/23/98 |
| Associated Press - Author not cited | Oregon Live |
| Noting that 20 Oregon high schools and Southern Oregon University have all changed their American Indian related nicknames, this article covers Chemeketa Community College's decision to follow suit. | |
| District calendar draws fire | 9/11/98 |
| Betty Lin-Fisher | Akron Beacon Journal |
| "The calendar cover (which features a stereotypic American Indian mascot about to be run over by a school bus) is raising some eyebrows among residents and local minority organizations, including an American Indian advocacy group and the NAACP." | |
| Court
TV to Premiere 'Fair or Foul? Native Americans V. The Cleveland Indians |
9/9/98 |
| Company Press Release | Court TV |
| "Court TV will put the spotlight on the controversy surrounding the longtime and widespread tradition of using Native American names, logos and mascots in sports. " The defendents in this case, arrested during a "Chief Wahoo" protest, were found not guilty. To view a complete description of the case and outcome, follow this link. | |
| You know, Chief must go | 8/18/98 |
| Terry Pluto | Beacon Journal |
| The sports writer for a prominent Ohio publication supports a new logo for the Cleveland "Indians" and asks " Would Dick Jacobs (owner of the Cleveland team) or anyone else in power with the Tribe want to wear a Chief Wahoo cap on the Pine Ridge Reservation? Would you want to do it? "If not, then it's time to change the logo." | |
| Vote on Indian mascot
could leave sports teams in anonymity |
7/22/98 |
| AP - Author not cited | Boston Globe Online |
| "[V]oters at a Conway town meeting opposed naming the Redskins as official mascot in an inter-town agreement governing the Frontier Regional School District. That... let stand a... decision to find a replacement for Redskins before the next school year. " | |
| It's time to change nicknames | 7/15/98 |
| Editorial | The Daily Star (Oneonta, NY) |
| "Some traditions, no matter how sentimental to adherents, are better off abandoned because they represent obsolete ways of thinking. In the 1990s, that is how we should view school mascots and nicknames borrowed from our historical attitudes toward Native Americans." | |
| Mascot issue: Human dignity vs. ignorance | 7/15/98 |
| Jennifer Philion | The Sporting News |
| An insightful article that asks and rebuts several of the most common arguments heard supporting the use of American Indian related sports team tokens. | |
| State will investigate use of American Indians as school mascots | 7/09/98 |
| Author not cited | NBC-Associated Press |
| "The New York State Education Department is investigating the use of American Indian mascots by New York’s schools to determine if their use is offensive and should be stopped. " | |
| SOU unveils new logo | 7/08/98 |
| Randy Hammericksen | The Mail Tribune |
| Having dropped the "red" from its "Red Raiders" nickname in 1980, Southern Oregon University changes its "Indian" symbol and mascot to that of a red-tailed hawk. | |
| Comments by Paul Simon | 6/23/98 |
| National Public Radio | Univ. of Southern, Il., Public Policy Institute |
| Former U.S. Senator from Illinois, Paul Simon, now director of the Public Policy Institute and professor at the University of Southern Illinois, weighs in on the "Illiniwak" mascot controversy. | |
| Methodists crush bid to oust Wahoo | 6/19/98 |
| Karen R. Long | Plain Dealer |
| "The Lakeside conference, representing 835 churches with 193,000 members, rejected the statement that 'the attack on any people -whether as "Indians' or as "Little Black Sambo' or as the "Frito Bandito,' is an attack on all of God's children.' " Link to Methodist Bishops' e-mail. | |
| Westlake High Rethinking Message of Warrior Mascot | 6/18/98 |
| Joel P. Engardio | Los Angeles Times |
| Westlake high school in Thousand Oaks, California, prepares to modify or completely drop the prolific use of its "Warrior" nickname and associated stereotypic American Indian logos. | |
| Plotting the Assassination of Little Red Sambo | 6/11/98 |
| Roberto Rodriguez | Black Issues in Higher Education |
| "Which tradition do we value more? The 80-year tradition of the NFL... Or the 300-year societal tradition of butchering Native American communities, values and culture? " | |
| Time to drop the derogatory 'Redskin' name |
6/04/98 |
| Joel Hood | Oregon Daily Emerald, University of Oregon |
| "Which tradition do we value more? The 80-year tradition of the NFL... Or the 300-year societal tradition of butchering Native American communities, values and culture? " | |
| American Indians Fight "Redskins" name | 5/27/98 |
| Dale Hopper, Associated Press | Washington Post |
| "The Washington Redskins should lose federal trademark protection for their nickname because it is a racial slur, attorneys for a group of American Indians argued...before a trademark panel." | |
| Name
Droppers: Native Americans seek ban on school monikers |
5/21/98 |
| Dave Neese | The Trentonian |
| The New Jersey State Board of Education is served notice that 71 schools under its jurisdiction use stereotypic, American Indian related sports team tokens. | |
| LA consolidated schools act on judge's order | 5/14/98 |
| Gary Klein, Justin Blumhoff | Los Angeles Times |
| Faced with a July 1 deadline, Los Angeles public school's make changes in accordance with a federal judge's ruling that American Indian sports team nicknames perpetuate stereotypes. Follow this link for a copy of the LA school board resolution on this matter | |
| Lingering stereotypes spoken here | 5/11/98 |
| Tom Bates | High Country News |
| A newspaper editor in Enterprise, Oregon, displays his integrity and insights by taking a stand against the "Savages" moniker and demeaning "Indian" logo used by the school in his community. | |
| Will Turner field criticism in brave manner? | 5/08/98 |
| Author not cited | CBS Sportsline Cyberspy |
| "For a Native American,
it (the 'tomahawk chop') is quite obviously an overt mockery -- extremely obnoxious and offensive. And the folks up in St. Paul (at Macalester College) called Turner on it" |
|
| Treat Aboriginals like people, not mascots | Spring 1998 |
| Jonna Parker Cohen | The Fulcrum |
| From the University of Ottawa's English language student news magazine comes this insightful article showing that the issue transcends the U.S. border and reaches into Canada as well. | |
| Controversy forces Turner to drop Macalester appearance |
5/07/98 |
| Anthony Lonetree | Star-Tribune |
| Students at Macalester College (St. Paul, Minnesota) who were occupying the president's office in protest of Ted Turner's scheduled appearance, are elated by the announcement that Turner declined to speak because of the controversy surrounding his "Atlanta Braves" baseball team. | |
| Turner declines college's honorary degree | 5/07/98 |
| Associated Press - Author not cited | ESPN-Sports Zone |
| Media mogul and Atlanta "Braves" owner, Ted Turner, declined an honorary degree from Macalester College (Minnesota) after students accused him of racism because of the name of his baseball team. | |
| No Peace Pipe for 'Racist' Sports Mascots | 5/98 |
| Campus Report - Author not cited. | Accuracy in Academia, Campus Report Online |
| This is a particularly good and complete account of the Conference on the Elimination of Racist Mascots held April, 1998m at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. | |
| Redskins no more | 4/22/98 |
| Associated Press - Author not cited | CNN-Sports Illustrated |
| Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma, makes a progressive leadership decision and ends a half-century of using the egregious "Redskins" as its sports team nickname. Follow this link to view select excerpts from CNN-SI's message board on this name change. WARNING: CONTENTS OF MESSAGE BOARD CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE AND MAY BE OFFENSIVE. | |
| Bench this team: the Offensive Anachronisms | 4/19/98 |
| Phillip W. D. Martin | Boston Globe |
| Highly supportive article that raises a number of good points and asks what would have happened if a framed picture of "Wahoo" was presented to President Clinton. | |
| Native activists put sports racism on trial |
4/16/98 |
| Martha Grevatt | Workers World |
| "The trial of Vernon
Bellecourt, Juanita Helphrey and Juan Reyna has begun. The three Native activists were arrested in Cleveland during last year’s World Series." |
|
| Mascot supporters continue fight | 4/15/98 |
| Associated Press - Author not cited | GazetteNet |
| Despite the wishes of the school board and a vote which effectively eliminated the possibility of their public school's "Redskins" nickname being retained, supporters of the name resist change. | |
| Resolution drafted to eliminate Chief Wahoo | 4/15/98 |
| Author not cited | E. Ohio Conference, United Methodist Church |
| "Because the caricature that symbolizes the Cleveland Indians baseball team is an insult to some Native Americans, a group of persons representing various conference boards has prepared a resolution for Annual Conference asking for the deletion of the Chief Wahoo symbol." Also see "Methodists crush bid to oust Wahoo" | |
| Conway voters nix keeping Redskin name | 4/14/98 |
| Associated Press - Author not cited | GazetteNet |
| Voters in a Massachusetts town defeat an effort aimed at forcing the retention of their school's "Redskins" nickname. | |
| Illinois trustees will not consider mascot change | 4/14/98 |
| Darcy Hendricks | U-Wire |
| "Despite past efforts by anti-Chief organizations to eliminate Chief Illiniwek, board of trustees member Susan Gravenhorst said BOT does not plan to revisit the Chief issue or change the current policy." | |
| Five arrested protesters released | 4/12/98 |
| Associated Press - Author not cited | Beacon Journal Online |
| Five people arrested for burning an effigy of Cleveland Indians logo Chief Wahoo are released. | |
| Five arrested at Tribe protest | 4/11/98 |
| Arnie Rosenberg | Beacon Journal Online |
| "Cleveland police converge on rally outside Jacobs Field after demonstrators set fire to stuffed effigies. Groups want Indians to change name, drop mascot." | |
| Indians win eventful home opener | 4/11/98 |
| Author not citied | The Ohio Wire |
| "The 'Indians' ... [w]on the game on an extra-inning home run, but not everybody was cheering." | |
| Police make arrests after effigy is burned outside ballpark |
4/10/98 |
| Author not cited | Tribe Central |
| "Five protesters were arrested [i]n the burning of an effigy outside of Jacobs Field in a protest of the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo logo, police said." | |
| Enterprise mascot faces a change-of-name vote | 4/09/98 |
| Richard Cockle | The Oregonian |
| About 220 predominately Anglo high school students prepare to determine whether or not their school's "Savages" nickname and mascot will be retained. | |
| After vote favoring Savages, emblem next | 4/08/98 |
| Associated Press - Author not cited | Virtually Northwest |
| "The school board voted unanimously last summer to change both the name and emblem, but after a public outcry decided to let the students decide." | |
| Charges dismissed against Wahoo protesters | 4/07/98 |
| John Affleck | Beacon Journal |
| Activists charged with igniting an effigy of "Chief Wahoo" at a Cleveland World Series game are exonerated by a municipal court judge. | |
| District Ban on Indian Nicknames Is Upheld | 4/07/98 |
| Martha L. Willman, Tom Becker | Los Angeles Times |
| "Ruling against fans of the Birmingham High School Braves, a federal judge upheld a Los Angeles Unified School District policy Monday banning schools from using nicknames and mascots based on American Indians." Follow this link for a copy of the LA school board resolution on this matter | |
| No Peace Pipe for 'Racist' Sports Mascots | 4/07/98 |
| Campus Report -Author not cited. | Campus Report Online |
| "Ruling against fans of the Birmingham High School Braves, a federal judge upheld a Los Angeles Unified School District policy Monday banning schools from using nicknames and mascots based on American Indians." Follow this link for a copy of the LA school board resolution on this matter | |
| Illinois mascot is chief concern on campus | 4/07/98 |
| Editorial reprinted from the Daily Illini | Minnesota Daily |
| Following the first National Conference on the Elimination of Racist Mascots, the editorial staff of the student newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign agree that it's time for that school's "Chief Illiniwak" mascot to be retired. | |
| Anti-Chief conference addresses detrimental effects of mascot | 4/06/98 |
| Author not cited | U-Wire from the Daily Illini |
| This is a summary of the first national Conference on the Elimination of Racist Mascots and includes quotes from Lakota Olympic gold-medal winner and conference speaker, Billy Mills. | |
| High School May Dump Indian Mascot Tonight | 2/13/99 |
| Author not cited | San Francisco Chronicle |
| Concerns about a stereotypical "Indian" mascot being inappropriate for a public educational institution have prompted student leadership and teachers to work towards the icons replacement. | |
| Frontier pact may be amended | 4/01/98 |
| Robert Tynes | GazetteNet |
| Contrary to concerns expressed by the Massachusetts department of Education, a group called the "Save the Redskins Committee" works to preserve that nickname in their area's school. | |
| Indian Mascot Rules The Day | 4/01/98 |
| Author not cited | Morgan Messenger |
| "The floor mat, which
incorporates a Plains Indian in full headdress in its design, has been repeatedly cited as
a symbol of disrespect ..." "The Morgan County School Board voted 5 - 0
last Thursday night to keep the Indian as the mascot at Berkeley Springs High School (West Virginia." |
|
| The End of Chief Wahoo? | 3/28/98 |
| Melanie Payne | Tribe Central |
| "Some activists believe that Richard Jacobs' rumored intention of offering shares in the Cleveland Indians could be a death knell for Chief Wahoo, the baseball team's mascot." | |
| Is Indian Mascot Racist? | 3/25/98 |
| No author citied | The Morgan Messenger |
| Two women of American Indian heritage demand "that the Morgan County (West Virginia) School Board set a deadline for changing the Indian mascot at Berkeley Springs High School. " | |
| SE Missouri State may keep its American Indian mascot | 3/16/98 |
| No author citied | Nando.net |
| Contending that American Indians have given qualified approval, a state university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri seems likely to retain its "Indians" and "Otahkian" sports teams nicknames. | |
| Opponents vow to abolish symbol from UI by 2000 | 3/98 |
| Julie Wurth | News-Gazette |
| "In town for the first-ever national conference on racist mascots, Chief opponents said they will use any means necessary to force the University of Illinois to drop its controversial symbol by the year 2000." | |
| Anti-Racist Activists Convene In "Illini Country" | 3/01/98 |
| Author not cited | Minorities Job Bank |
| Activists from throughout the nation plan to meet at a conference at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in protest of the racist tradition of that school's "Chief Illiniwek" mascot and to share anti-racist mascot strategies. | |
| Anthropologists at UI say it's time the Chief retired |
2/98 |
| Julie Wurth | The News-Gazette |
| "Anthropologists at the University of Illinois say Chief Illiniwek has had a direct impact on their teaching and research. Eighteen professors in the anthropology department wrote to UI trustees this month calling for the Chief's retirement." | |
| Anthropology professors take a stand against negative portrayal of Native Americans |
2/20/98 |
| Kevin Wendt | The Northern Star(Northern Illinois University) |
| Stating that the school's mascot promotes inaccurate information about American Indian peoples, the anthropology department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign adds its support to efforts aimed at retiring the school's stereotypic "Indian" related sports team token. | |
| New mascots anger Renegades | 2/15/98 |
| Lete Childs | "Smoke Signals" Lenape High, Medford, NJ |
| "Some students at Shawnee have stepped onto the warpath to save their school’s longtime mascot—the Renegade. While the Renegade may be a source of irritation at Lenape, it has long been a symbol of pride for the school on the other side of Medford." | |
| Mascot Change Wanted at John Swett | 2/13/99 |
| Author not cited | San Francisco Chronicle |
| Led by the school's student body president and supported by about 75% of school's teachers, an effort is underway to change this public school's stereotypic "Indian" sports team token. | |
| American Indians' Modern Problems Discussed by Speaker | 2/09/98 |
| Amanda Schindler | Daily Nebraskan Online |
| Dr. Cornel Pewewardy (University of Kansas School of Education), brings to light concerns arising from mass media images of Native Peoples such as are found in sports team mascots. | |
| Members spread out, testify at Capitol | 1/30/98 |
| Author not cited | Wisconsin Education Association Council |
| This article documents Wisconsin state legislative action being advanced that would address the American Indian sports team token issue. | |
| Bill aims to re-sensitize American Indian names | 1/29/98 |
| Nathan Arnold | Badgerherald |
| "Hoping to send all American Indian mascots to the same fate as the Marquette Warriors, supporters convened... ( a)t the Madison City-County Building to back a state Senate bill intended to eliminate insensitive team names like the "Indians" and "Blackhawks." | |
| Menomonie groups to testify on mascot bill | 1/28/98 |
| Georgia Pabst | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
| "Nineteen Student Council members from Menomonie High School and their adviser plan to make the 200-mile trip to Madison in their own cars and vans to testify in favor of the bill before the Senate Education Committee." | |
| Indian mascots perpetuate stereotypes | 1/26/98 |
| Author not citied | Daily Bruin View |
| "From the banners to the marquees to the merchandise bearing Indian mascots at the stadium, an entire culture is being demeaned and insulted." | |
| AIM joins protest over UND name | 1/23/98 |
| David Dodds | Grand Forks Herald Online |
| Members of the American Indian Movement plan to protest at a hockey game because of the University of North Dakota's use of its "Fighting Sioux" nickname and logo. | |
| Change the name | 1/23/98 |
| Editorial | Concord Moniter Online |
| A newspaper in central New Hampshire urges a public school in its area (Belmont high) to change its American Indian related, "Red Raider" nickname when the new school opens in 1999. | |
| Yakima College votes to drop Indians name | 1/10/98 |
| Author not citied | Virtually Northwest |
| Heeding concerns expressed by members of its American Indian community, a Washington State college retires its "Indian" nickname. | |
| High school booster tries to 'Save the Braves' | 1/9/98 |
| Corey Q. Bradley | Free Speech Forum Online |
| Arguing that the L.A. school board's decision to eliminate race-related mascots from their jurisdiction was similar to acts carried out in Nazi Germany, an alumnus starts a lawsuit. | |
| High School Alumni Sue For Alma Mater To Keep Indian Mascot | 1/7/98 |
| Author not cited | The Source.net |
| "Birmingham High School alumni have sued their alma mater and the Los Angeles Unified School District board to overturn a ban on the use of American Indian symbols as mascots. " | |