A pair of Native American advocacy groups and individual plaintiffs who claim Native American heritage filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block the implementation of a Colorado law banning the use of American Indian mascots.
The Colorado Legislature approved a bill in June, SB 21-116, which aims to prohibit publicly funded schools, colleges, and universities from using Native Americans as their mascots. The lawsuit filed on Nov. 2 names Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser as defendants, among others, and claims the law violates the 14th Amendment.
“Culturally appropriate Native American names, logos and imagery serve to honor Native Americans and to help public schools neutralize offensive and stereotypical Native American caricatures and iconography, while teaching students and the general public about American Indian history,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit posits its claim as a deprivation of Native American culture, arguing the law is a form of discrimination because it deprives American Indians the ability to have things named after them. SB 21-116 is slated to take effect on June 1, 2022, and imposes a $25,000 fine per month for any school that refuses to change an existing Native American mascot.
COLORADO LEGISLATURE APPROVES BILL BANNING NATIVE AMERICAN MASCOTS IN SCHOOLS
“Imagine a state law that barred schools from using the name or image of an African-American individual on its logos or letterhead. That would be the end of school names honoring Martin Luther King Jr., President Barack Obama, or Justices Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas,” the lawsuit adds.
The complaint was filed on Tuesday in the U.S. district court in Denver. Two primary groups are challenging the law, including the North Dakota-based Native American Guardians Association and the Mountain States Legal Foundation.
Two Yuma High School students identified as John Doe and Jane Doe want their schools to continue using the “Indians” mascot, arguing it would be an honor to their cultural heritage. Other identified plaintiffs include Demetrius Marez, a Lamar High School alumnus, Chase Aubrey Roubideaux, a Yuma High School alumnus, and Donald Wayne Smith Jr., a pastor at Yuma Christian Church and former teacher.
The law does provide exemptions if a school has an agreement with a recognized tribe, such as Arapahoe High School and Strasburg School District. However, the lawsuit argues that giving individual tribes the ability to approve specific school names opens the door to exploitation “as potential state-sponsored shields from criticism” and claims individual tribes should not be the final determiner of whether something should be legal.
An injunction was also filed on Friday to halt the implementation of the law. The state attorney general’s office said it would defend the law but did not provide further comment.
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The Washington Examiner contacted Yuma High School and Polis’s office but did not immediately receive a response.
