March
8, 2002 9:05 a.m. By
Any Other Name
What
do Native Americans think of sports teams named after Indians?
o
Indian team names actually offend Indians? Self-appointed Native American
activists say they do — but a new poll by Sports Illustrated
tells a different story.
Last
year, when the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights moved to condemn the
use of Indian team names by colleges, universities, and K-12 schools,
commissioner Abigail Thernstrom proposed a compromise. Rather than urge
the federal government to file civil-rights lawsuits, as several fellow
commissioners wanted to do, she suggested that the panel merely encourage
"schools, teams, and other organizations voluntarily drop names that
Native Americans themselves (as indicated by polling data or clearly expressed
local sentiment) find offensive."
It seemed like a
reasonable middle ground between the activists who see racism everywhere
they look and Redskins fans who refuse to acknowledge that some team names
are considered slurs by many of their fellow Americans. Yet the commission
voted down the Thernstrom proposal and issued its blanket condemnation
instead.
Perhaps it was Thernstrom's
interest in "polling data" that turned them off, because a new
poll published in Sports Illustrated suggests that Indian team
names aren't nearly as offensive to as many people as the activists have
let on.
The Peter Harris
Research Group polled 352 Native Americans (217 living on reservations
and 134 living off) and 743 sports fans; the results are published in
SI's March 4 issue.
Here's the most important
finding: "Asked if high school and college teams should stop using
Indian nicknames, 81 percent of Native American respondents said no. As
for pro sports, 83 percent of Native American respondents said teams should
not stop using Indian nicknames, mascots, characters, and symbols."
The poll also found
that 75 percent of Native Americans don't think the use of these team
names and mascots "contributes to discrimination." Opinion is
divided about the tomahawk chop displayed at Atlanta Braves games: 48
percent "don't care" about it; 51 percent do care, but more
than half of them "like it." The name "Redskins" isn't
especially controversial either; 69 percent of Native Americans don't
object to it. As a general rule, Indians on reservations were more sensitive
about team names and mascots, but not to the point where a majority of
them ever sided with the activists on these questions.
Sports Illustrated
writer S. L. Price reaches the obvious conclusion: "Although Native
American activists are virtually united in opposition to the use of Indian
nicknames and mascots, the Native American population sees the issue far
differently."
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o
Indian team names actually offend Indians? Self-appointed Native American
activists say they do — but a new poll by Sports Illustrated
tells a different story. 
