We were beyond skeptical that Gov. John Hickenlooper’s plan to create yet another committee to look at the offensive Native American mascots and names in Colorado public schools would resolve the issue.
We flat-out didn’t think it would do any good, and we were apparently wrong.
The problem with schools using offensive Native American mascots and names is an old one, but it’s garnered new attention. In 2015, state Rep. Joe Salazar offered a bill effectively banning the use of most American Indian names in schools unless they received express permission from a tribe or affected group to continue.
The bill failed. It failed because critics say many of these names and mascots in schools are a source of great pride from alumni and communities.
How any thinking or reasonable community or person can see the “Lamar High School Savages” The “La Veta Redskins” and others like it as a source of pride was impossible to fathom.
It’s mind boggling that even decades ago, modern, contemplative sensibilities wouldn’t first compel the schools themselves to stop insulting and demeaning Native Americans with these flagrant slurs. But it was just as appalling that state lawmakers would wait so long to take action against government-sponsored bigotry and racism.
It isn’t just names. The mascot of the Eaton High School Reds is an equally offensive cartoon demeaning Native Americans. Equally as obtuse, lawmakers, school and community officials repeatedly defended their right to continue using it.
If a teacher at any Colorado school were to call a Native American student a “redskin” or a “savage,” they would be out of a job before some other bigot trying to defend them could rally a response. It is unthinkable, even in the rural folds of Lamar or Eaton, that people would not know that Native Americans are among the most abused, marginalized, mistreated cultures and races in American history, and that these pejorative slurs only continue to trivialize them as humans and Americans. The site of the infamous Sand Creek Massacre, one of the most shameful events in U.S. history, is in the backyard of Lamar.
Given the entrenchment, we were surprised that the Governor’s Commission to Study American Indian Representations in Public Schools may have found a solution. The report recommends schools using Native American names and images to seek out and work with tribes and organizations to create something new that could be a source of pride to the schools, the communities, the tribes and ultimately all of us in Colorado.
The pact was made possible by a giant donation of grace and goodwill from Native American groups and individuals, something that is as much of their heritage as the state that has long been their home.
“American Indian mascots that portray (us) as caricatures, trivialize symbols of (our) culture, and lack any sincere connection to the people they purport to represent, can be harmful and offensive,” Southern Ute Indian Tribe Chairman Clement J. Frost said in a statement included in the April 15 commissioner report. “But using (names and images) creates an opportunity for schools and tribes to engage in meaningful relationships…”
He and and officials from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe point to a recent collaboration between Strasburg High School “Indians” and tribal officials to educate the community, redesign logos that are mutually agreeable and respectful and set out protocols for use.
So far, so good. With regional tribes and individuals offering these schools such a warm and gracious invitation to see this as a learning opportunity to do the right thing, success looks promising.
The commission essentially recommends that schools cease using the names and images — unless they collaborate with tribes to make sanctioned changes.
It would be unfathomable that schools like those in Lamar and Eads push back this opportunity. There is no need to.
With this commission report affecting dozens of schools across the state, we’ll be keen to see just how wrong we were about Colorado not needing to prohibit schools from using these names and images. But we, and many others, won’t hesitate to insist the issue be resolved this way — or on the state House and Senate floor in the future if it comes to that.