Columnist should do more research on racial stereotypes in team names
NASHUA TELEGRAPH
Letter to the Editor
Published: Sunday, Jul. 15, 2007
I am writing in response to John Bachman’s July 1 column, in which he characterized efforts by the New England Anti-Mascot Coalition to open a dialogue about racial stereotypes in our public schools as “mass extortion by various pinheads seeking to impose their will on society.”
As a former Nashua resident and a representative of the New England Anti-Mascot Coalition, I won’t stoop to name-calling. What I will do is point out a few facts about the issue of “Indian” sports team mascots, nicknames, and logos that Mr. Bachman may have missed during his extensive research.
In 2002, the New Hampshire Board of Education unanimously adopted a resolution calling for all school districts to examine this issue and to eliminate “Indian” sports mascots.
The text of this resolution can be found on the Internet at http://sanfacon.com/mascots/nhboe.html
Terms like “Warriors” and “Tomahawks,” coupled with a Native American theme and logo, are racial stereotypes. Surely, Mr. Bachman isn’t condoning the continued use of racial stereotypes in federally funded public schools.
Comparing living Native American people to birds, panthers, and ancient Greeks only serves to illustrate the depth of Mr. Bachman’s ignorance on this serious issue. But let’s not be too hard on Mr. Bachman. The public schools in this country have done an abysmal job educating our children about real Native American people and the real history of the colonization of the “New World.” We teach about “westward expansion” rather than about “genocide.”
After all, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to be proud of this country when one considers the true history of race relations in the United States.
Why must we appropriate another’s culture for our own sports entertainment? Surely there are a great many attributes of Euro-American culture in which we can take pride.
Among the organizations that have been calling for an end of this outdated practice (in public schools, colleges and universities, and in professional sports) for 40 years are the NAACP, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the NCAA, the National Congress of American Indians, the Intertribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes, the Native American Journalists Association, the American Indian Movement, the National Education Association, the American Psychological Association, the United Methodist Church, and the American Jewish Committee.
Perhaps these are the “various pinheads” to whom Mr. Bachman referred in his column. I am proud to be associated with these national organizations in their effort to educate America.
The NEAMC website features the following quotes on this issue:
“Since the civil rights movement of the 1960s many overtly derogatory symbols and images offensive to African-Americans have been eliminated. However, many secondary schools, post-secondary institutions, and a number of professional sports teams continue to use Native American nicknames and imagery. Since the 1970s, American Indian leaders and organizations have vigorously voiced their opposition to these mascots and team names because they mock and trivialize Native American religion and culture.” (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2001)
“The National NAACP call upon all professional sports teams, and public and private schools and universities currently using such names and images, to reject the use of Native Americans, and all historically oppressed people and their cultural traditions, as sports mascots and symbols, and affirm their commit?ment to respectful racial and cultural inclusion in all aspects of their institutions.” (NAACP, 1999)
“There’s nothing in indigenous cultures that I’m aware of that aspires to be a mascot, logo, or nickname for athletic teams. Teachers should research the matter and discover that Indigenous Peoples would never have associated the sacred practices of becoming a warrior with the hoopla of a pep rally, half-time entertainment, or a side-kick to cheerleaders. Even though this issue has become as American as apple pie and baseball, making fun of Indigenous Peoples in athletic events across the country is wrong!” (Cornel Pewewardy, Comanche/Kiowa)
There is no indication from Mr. Bachman’s comments that he is familiar with any of these statements. I suggest he does more research on an issue before making claims about the views of the New England Anti-Mascot Coalition and those we support.
In my May 2007 letters to Merrimack School Superintendent Marge Chiafery and Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative Superintendent Francine Fullam, I listed each of these organizations and I asked why their particular school districts have ignored the 2002 resolution by the New Hampshire Board of Education.
I received a very thoughtful response from WLC School Board chair Jean Scagel, in which she indicated that public discussions on this issue “regardless of the outcome” would be beneficial to the community. I couldn’t agree more.
Mr. Bachman quoted a blurb from my website, published in an earlier news story, in which I railed against the Rochester School Board for their inaction regarding Spaulding’s “Red Raiders” nickname and logo.
I was born and raised in Rochester and graduated from Spaulding in the 1970s, and I have been working with officials there for the past 18 months. Discussions on this issue are continuing and are already paying dividends: In September, Spaulding will offer a course in North American Indian Studies.
Do schools like Merrimack High School or Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative High School have comparable courses?
What about other N.H. high schools using “Indian” sports team nicknames or logos like Belmont, Colebrook Academy, Laconia, Manchester Central, Sanborn Regional, and Winnacunnet?
Perhaps we should focus our energies on providing quality education to our children rather than labeling those who seek overdue change and cultural sensitivity as “pinheads.”
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the current American Indian population of New Hampshire is less than 3,000 persons (two-tenths of 1 percent of the total population of 1.2 million). In Mr. Bachman’s words, the demise of the Indigenous People of the Western Hemisphere was “unfortunate but unavoidable.” A rather simplistic and Eurocentric view of American history.
The continued use of Native American cultures as sports entertainment is avoidable, and we can work to make changes today. Let’s begin by having open and intelligent discussions in every school district that uses these images and nicknames.
Peter Sanfacon
New England Anti-Mascot Coalition
Framingham, Massachusetts