{"id":113639,"date":"2015-03-24T21:22:15","date_gmt":"2015-03-25T03:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/native-mascots-go-under-the-microscope\/"},"modified":"2015-03-24T21:22:15","modified_gmt":"2015-03-25T03:22:15","slug":"native-mascots-go-under-the-microscope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/native-mascots-go-under-the-microscope\/","title":{"rendered":"Native mascots go under the microscope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Colorado
Colorado public schools that want to use Native American mascots or logos would need to get permission first from a panel under a proposal a state lawmaker has introduced.<\/span>Brennan Linsley\/Associated Press file photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

DENVER \u2013 A Democratic-controlled Colorado House committee this week advanced a measure that would limit American Indian mascots at public schools.<\/p>\n

House Bill 1165 on Monday passed the House Education Committee on a 6-5 party-line vote to cheers from Native Americans sitting in the audience.<\/p>\n

The issue last was discussed by the Legislature in 2010. Since then, it has picked up steam, with national attention thanks to pressure on the NFL\u2019s Washington Redskins to change the team\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would have to have a very privileged view of life to consider redskins and savages to be political correctness \u2026\u201d said Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, co-sponsor of the bill. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about people that have been disenfranchised over a number of centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

HB 1165, also sponsored by Rep. Jovan Melton, D-Aurora, would establish a committee that would need to approve use of the mascot, or schools would need to stop using it.<\/p>\n

The bill also would set a fine of $25,000 per month if the school continues using the mascot after it has been rejected by the committee.<\/p>\n

In an effort to address costs to schools associated with switching to another mascot, the bill would create a fund for schools in order to make the transition.<\/p>\n

Sponsors began the hearing by showing slides of cartoons accompanied by derogatory racial slurs. Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, who is black, was so offended by the presentation that she asked sponsors to pull the slides.<\/p>\n

But Melton, who also is black, said the point of the slides was to show what Native Americans see at school, seeing \u201csavages, or redskins, or to see some type of image that degrades them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opponents said the bill was steeped in politics, while not fully taking into account costs associated with the proposal.<\/p>\n

About 18 schools could be impacted by the legislation.<\/p>\n

\n

Reaction split along racial lines<\/h4>\n

This week, local online reaction to a proposed mascot bill has been mixed.
\n On The Cortez Journal Facebook page, a majority of remarks posted by online readers indicated that Colorado public schools shouldn\u2019t be forced to scrub Native American-themed mascots like Indians, Braves or Chiefs. Most of those opposed to the measure said schools shouldn\u2019t cave to political correctness pressures.
\n \u201cGeez \u2026 next it will be \u2018white\u2019 bread,\u201d a Cortez woman posted.
\n \u201cStop all this political correctness,\u201d another woman posted. \u201cIt is ruining our country.\u201d
\n Citing the need for cultural sensitivity, a smaller minority of online fans indicated that the mascot bill should be adopted at the state level. One Native woman said the mascots in question were \u201chumiliating\u201d toward her ancestors.
\n \u201cIt desecrates the true meaning of cultural things like headdresses and feathers,\u201d the woman posted. \u201cThese things are sacred to our culture and shouldn\u2019t be paraded around like costumes.\u201d
\n Two online responses also questioned the practice of utilizing Native mascots by schools in Indian Country.
\n \u201cWhen Red Mesa Schools drop their mascot name \u2013 Redskins \u2013 then you all may have a point,\u201d said a woman that opposed the proposed legislation.
\n A Native woman that attended a boarding school said she was proud of her former mascot \u2013 Braves.
\n \u201c\u2026 If a all-Native school chooses to have a name \u2026 in reference to our heritage then so be it,\u201d she posted.
\n As of press deadlines on Thursday, more than 2,000 online fans had viewed Monday\u2019s original Facebook post:
\n \u201cShould public schools in Colorado scrub mascots like Indians, Chiefs and Braves?
\n tbaker@cortezjournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Schools could face fines for logos under new measure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[94,13,629,547],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-113639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-colorado-state-government","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-southern-ute-indian-tribe","tag-ute-mountain-ute-indian-tribe"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113639"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=113639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}