The state of California has banned the use of the term “Redskins” as a public school team name, mascot or nickname, becoming the first state to do so.
On Sunday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the “California Racial Mascots Act,” which seeks to prevent schools from using the divisive term that some Native Americans consider a racial slur. It will be enforced at the beginning of 2017.
The bill was authored by Democratic Assemblymember Luis Alejo.
“As the state with the largest Native American population in the country, we should not continue to allow a racial slur to be used by our public schools,” Alejo said.
It passed the Assembly Floor by a vote of 59 to 9, and the State Senate by a margin of 25 to 10.
While the origin of the Redskins name is disputed, a number of Native Americans believe that it was once used to describe the bloody scalps of Native Americans sold for bounty.
The Change the Mascot campaign along with Jacqueline Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, both strong supporters of the legislation, applauded Brown’s decision to sign the bill into law.
“We applaud and extend our deepest gratitude to AB-30 author Assemblyman Luis Alejo, Governor Jerry Brown, and California’s lawmakers for standing on the right side of history by bringing an end to the use of the demeaning and damaging R-word slur in the state’s schools,” they wrote in a joint statement. “They have set a shining example for other states across the country, and for the next generation, by demonstrating a commitment to the American ideals of inclusion and mutual respect.”
“Their historic step to build a better future stands in stark contrast to the dogged inaction of Washington’s NFL team, which in the face of all the evidence that this term degrades and offends Native Americans, continues to defend and promote the slur for its own financial gain.”
At the same time, Brown vetoed a bill that would ban the naming of roads and buildings after Confederate leaders.
“Local governments are laboratories of democracy which, under most circumstances, are quite capable of deciding for themselves which of their buildings and parks should be named, and after whom,” Brown said in a statement.
The Washington Redskins football team has been the subject of intense debate in recent years, with many activists and Native Americans calling for a name change, including NCAI, the nation’s largest national tribal organization.
Jacqueline Pata, executive director of the NCAI, said the Washington Redskins’ “legacy and history is an ugly one, rooted in racism and discrimination, including the origins of the team’s name. It is becoming more and more obvious that the team’s legacy on racial equality is to remain on the wrong side of history for as long as possible.”
Redskins owner Dan Snyder has vowed never to change the name, despite the Redskins trademark being canceled by a ruling of the Federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that determined the use of the term Redskins was “offensive.”
