Good Afternoon,

Below is another letter of support from Dr. Laurel Davis-Delano, Professor of Sociology at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Dr. Davis-Delano has dedicated over 25 years toward studying representations of Native Americans in U.S. society.

Share her letter of support, educate our community, and contact our administration. If our society cannot provide equity for marginalized racial groups, then we have no chance at bridging systemic disparities found in our municipality! The change starts in communities like Mahopac. Contribute your voice to this campaign so we can set a unified precedent around racial justice!

Our future generations deserve an inclusive environment, and together, we can make this vision a reality!

~Sincerely,

Daniel Ehrenpreis

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Hello School Administrators and School Committee members in Mahopac -     

I am a scholar who studies the topic of Native American mascots (i.e., nicknames & logos) for about 25 years. And, I manage an email list of scholars from a variety of disciplines who do the same.

I am writing to you about your town nickname/logo. 

More specifically, I am writing to share critical research findings with you on the topic of Native American mascots.

Here are the most relevant findings:

(a) Scholars agree that Native American mascots in sport are stereotypes. This is because almost all of these mascots depict Native Americans as homogeneous and only as male warriors from the past. Yet, many people in the U.S. do not perceive these mascots as stereotypes because they have little meaningful contact with contemporary Native Americans and because they perceive these mascots as positive compliments. In regard to the latter point, many people in the U.S. do not recognize ostensibly positive stereotypes as stereotypes and do not understand that these stereotypes are harmful, despite the fact that research reveals a variety of problems associated with ostensibly positive stereotypes.  

(b) Research demonstrates that Native American mascots reflect and reinforce racial stereotypes and prejudice. More specifically, this research reveals that: these mascots are associated with negative thoughts and negative stereotypes of Native Americans, people who support these mascots are more likely (than people who oppose them) to believe prejudicial ideas about Native Americans, and exposure to these mascots increases stereotyping of Native Americans. For example, in a 2011 article in the journal American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, Chaney et al, report their findings, that although their White participants tended to have favorable opinions of Native mascots, at an implicit level these participants were more likely to associate these mascots with negative thoughts and negative stereotypes of Native Americans. In a different study, in Journal of Consumer Psychology in 2017, Angle et al. reported the finding that when liberal people were exposed to a generic Native American sport logo, this strengthened their unconscious stereotyping of Native Americans as warlike. In a third study, in 2010 in Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Kim-Prieto et al. reported the surprising finding that exposure to the Native American Chiefs logo from the University of Illinois led to greater stereotyping of Asian Americans!

(c) Most importantly, research demonstrates that Native American mascots directly harm Native Americans in several ways. More specifically, research reveals that these mascots generate a hostile climate for Native Americans, and these mascots diminish Native Americans’ self-esteem, capacity to imagine possible future selves, and faith in their communities. For example, in 2011 in the journal American Indian and Alaskan Native Mental Health Research, LaRocque et al. reported that they found that Native American students at the University of North Dakota experienced significantly more negative feelings and distress than non-Native students after seeing slide shows of Fighting Sioux mascot images. In the journal Basic and Applied Social Psychology in 2008, Fryberg et al. revealed findings that when Native American youth (from two high schools and one college) were exposed to a variety of Native American mascots, this depressed their self-esteem, sense of future possibilities for themselves, and faith in their Native American communities.

Research reveals that, in mainstream U.S. media and popular culture, Native Americans are both greatly underrepresented as contemporary people and stereotyped as people of the past, contributing to widespread belief in historical myths about Native Americans and very limited knowledge of contemporary Native Americans. One of the many goals of the contemporary Native American rights movement is to rectify this situation. Related to this goal, in the 1960s Native American activists began to address the issue of Native American sports mascots.

A large number of Native American organizations have taken a stand against Native American mascots, including the National Indian Education Association and National Congress of American Indians, which is the largest Native American organization in the U.S. and represents over 250 tribes. People may be surprised to learn that many academic organizations have done the same, including three of the largest bodies of social scientists in the U.S.: American Anthropological Association, American Psychological Association, and American Sociological Association. 

To summarize, although many people in the U.S. do not perceive Native American mascots as problematic, research findings demonstrate that Native American mascots are educationally harmful to both Native and non-Native students. These mascots are harmful because to Native youth because they create a hostile climate for learning. These mascots are harmful to non-Native youth because they reflect and reinforce stereotyping. Those making decisions about Native American mascots should make educationally sound decisions, and educationally sound decisions rely on research findings because these findings are derived from systematic and careful collection and analysis of data. The educationally sound decision is to eliminate Native American mascots.

For these reasons, I urge you to eliminate the Native-associated nickname and logo associated with your school district. 

Sincerely yours,

Laurel R. Davis-Delano
Professor of Sociology