Education | Opinion

Opinion: Indian mascots are relics of a 'less enlightened era'





Mike Thompson, cartoonist for The Detroit Free Press, on the use of Indian mascots in Michigan:
It's counterproductive to teach children about the virtues of acceptance in our increasingly diverse society at a school where student athletes are referred to as "Redskins" or "Redmen." Yet, according to the same Free Press story, two Republican lawmakers have gone so far as to introduce a bill that would force the state's Department of Civil Rights to pick up the tab if state schools are made to change their belittling nicknames and dump their mascots.

America has changed by leaps and bounds since many of these school nicknames were first adopted. It's time to ditch these relics from a bygone, less enlightened era.

Get the Story:
Mike Thompson: Should Michigan schools dump their American Indian nicknames? (The Detroit Free Press 5/19)

Related Stories:
Editorial: 'Indian' mascots in Michigan can teach about tribes (2/28)

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