Oregon Newspaper Drops Use of Ethnic Nicknames of Teams

Indians have disappeared from the sports pages of Oregon’s largest newspaper, along with Braves, Redmen and Redskins. The Oregonian has declared the nicknames of those sports teams offensive and will not print them.

“We do not expect the rest of the journalistic world to fall into line behind us, nor do we presume that our action will change any team names,” Managing Editor Peter Thompson said. “But we have concluded that we will not be a passive participant in perpetuating racial or cultural stereotypes in our community--whether by the use of nicknames or in any other way.”

The Oregonian is believed to be the first major U.S. newspaper to adopt such a policy.

In its Sunday editions, the 432,000-circulation paper dropped references to the Braves in an Associated Press story about part-time Atlanta Braves player Deion Sanders.

The newspaper referred to the “National League champion Atlanta” or “the baseball team.”

The policy will apply to any team from grade school through professional sports using an Indian nickname, Thompson said. So far, the policy has been limited to the four nicknames.

Sunday’s Oregonian included references to the Miami Tribe, a team in the now-defunct Professional Spring Football League, and the Vancouver Canucks, a hockey team whose nickname some consider a derogatory term for Canadians.