It is appalling that a few Colorado schools continue to cling to offensive American Indian mascot names, but a solution being proposed by state Sen. Joe Salazar is too heavy-handed and too broad.
Salazar, a Thornton Democrat, said he will introduce legislation next year that would force public schools to seek approval from a panel of American Indians to continue using Indian nicknames, logos or mascots. Those that don’t could lose state funding, .
Salazar said as many as 30 Colorado public high schools have names or mascots that could be under review — including the La Veta Redskins, Lamar Savages, Eaton Reds and Yuma Indians.
“We have finally come to a point where American Indians are tired of constantly having this discussion about these offensive mascots,” Salazar said.
There is no reason for a school in the 21st century to have the name Savages with an Indian mascot, or Redskins, which we have argued also should be scrubbed from the National Football League. Unfortunately, Salazar would also include names like Braves and Warriors, which have no derogatory subtext.
State lawmakers have been unwilling in the past to force schools to ditch their mascot names. In 2010, Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, sponsored a controversial bill that would have required all schools with Indian mascots to stop using the names or seek an OK from the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs — or face a $1,000-a-month fine.
but Williams said her bill started a conversation.
She said a group studied the schools with offensive names and talked to those communities. Nothing changed, though.
Salazar’s bill would be vastly more punitive by withholding a school’s state funding. Salazar argues that the state forbids discrimination and shouldn’t fund schools that discriminate with offensive names.
“There is no reason in the world why we should allow a publicly funded institution to discriminate and denigrate individuals on the public dime,” Salazar said.
His bill, however, is too broad. Moreover, it would be a lot healthier if the schools themselves changed the names in response to a groundswell of public opinion. And that process could begin with public officials, from the governor to the education commissioner, weighing in emphatically on the matter to create an awareness of the names and mascots that actually are disturbing.
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