Dear Oregon State Senate and House Leadership:

We are writing as a coalition of organizations and individuals to urge you to uphold the ban of Indian mascots in schools that receive state funding. We are committed to mobilize our bases toward the opposition of any bill that would propose a loophole to the current statute against the use of race-based Native American imagery in sports. 

 

Research Supports Our Position
Research has shown that the continued use of American Indian mascots, names, symbols, images, and personalities has a negative effect on not only American Indians students but all students by:
a.    Undermining the educational experiences of members of all communities—especially those who have had little or no contact with Indigenous peoples. The symbols, images and mascots teach non-Indian children that it's acceptable to participate in culturally abusive behavior and perpetuate inaccurate misconceptions about American Indian culture.
b.   Establishing an unwelcome and hostile learning environment for American Indians students that endorses negative images and offensive racial stereotypes.

We Support Tribal Sovereignty, Civil Rights and Human Rights

At issue here are both group and individual rights— sovereign tribal cultural property rights and the human and civil rights of Native students that protect them from discrimination.

 

If this issue involved high schools using a specific tribal name, having secured the tribe’s explicit permission, there may be a path forged that would respect the rights of individuals and tribes. However, this does not seem to be the path that some in Salem propose. 

 

What is at issue is exposing individual Native students to mascotting, targeting and bullying for sport, recreation and entertainment. Such action is neither dignified nor viewed as an “honor” by Native people. Instead, we contend that such legislation is rooted in race-based discrimination in violation of the human and civil rights of tribal citizens. Moreover,  tribes overwhelmingly across the United States have called for an end to the practice of race based imagery in sports.[1]

 

Proposed Legislation Out of Step With Constituent Sentiment

The rejection of the Indian mascots is shared by an increasingly vocal population that extends far beyond Indian Country, as evidenced by countless editorials, commentary, and public statements making headlines in just the last year alone. Such advocates assert that, in 2014, there is no place in our educational system for the intentional degradation of an entire population in the name of “tradition” and pastime. We agree.

That a small handful of Oregon’s legislators continue to pursue this matter reflects an inexplicable waste of taxpayer resources in order to pursue an agenda deeply opposed by a significant cross-section of their constituents.

 

Stand With Us…
Please protect Oregon students and continue to provide socially and psychologically safe learning environments for all students free of objectification and stereotypes that are damaging. 

 

[1]​ http://www.ncai.org/policy-issues/community-and-culture/anti-defamation-mascots