Bill to Ban Indian Mascots Is Blocked

Legislation that would make California the first state to ban Native American team mascots from public schools was defeated in the Assembly Tuesday amid strong opposition from Republicans and some Democrats who called it an example of excessive political correctness.

The measure by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) had sailed through two policy committees with only one opposing vote, encouraging Native American activists who have been fighting for more than 30 years to rid schools of stereotypical Indian mascots they find offensive.

But AB 2115 encountered firm opposition on the Assembly floor from most Republicans, who ridiculed the measure and wondered aloud where government would draw the line. Some Democratic lawmakers also questioned whether the bill was warranted, and why more of the state’s Native American tribes were not involved.

“For too long, we have tolerated racial insensitivity” in mascots such as the cartoon Indian of the Cleveland baseball team logo, Goldberg told her colleagues, calling her legislation “a bill whose time has come.”

After a lengthy and sometimes passionate debate, it ultimately gathered just 29 votes, far short of the 41 needed for passage. By contrast, 35 legislators voted against it, and Goldberg staffers said afterward that they were surprised by the strength of the opposition.

Assembly Republican Leader Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) mobilized GOP lawmakers against Goldberg’s measure, which would have forced schools statewide to phase out Indians, Chiefs, Redskins and all tribal names from school marquees and uniforms.

“This is not a matter for the California Legislature,” Cox said. “This is an issue that should be left to local school boards to decide.”

Goldberg recently amended her measure, which initially could also have led to bans on other ethnic mascots such as the Arabs and Tartars, to Native American names. Nonetheless, some opponents focused on those other names too, making a case that mascots were a slippery slope for state lawmakers.

“This measure should be voted down; it is political correctness run amok,” said Assemblyman Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta).

Assemblyman Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield) used humor to make a similar point, quipping that if the train of thought in Goldberg’s bill was followed to its conclusion, depressed people might take offense to the color blue on team uniforms, religious people might object to the Devils and atheists might quibble with the Angels.

“I have never admitted this before,” said Ashburn, who is small of stature, “but I don’t like people known as Giants.”

Goldberg was not amused. She cited the numerous civil rights groups supporting the bill, including the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and called it a matter of human dignity that cannot be left to local school boards. Those boards, supporters of a ban argue, often fail to act under pressure from alumni groups and others who consider the mascots a part of school tradition.

“We’ve compared Native Americans to ducks, and colors, instead of human beings,” she said, adding, “This is not a joke.”

With a 50-30 Democratic majority in the Assembly, Goldberg would have been able to overcome Republican opposition with stronger support from her own party. But many Democrats either abstained from the vote or voted against the measure.

Assemblywoman Carol Liu (D-La Canada Flintridge), said she sympathized with Goldberg’s attempts to address prejudice. But as the representative of the Arcadia High Apaches, a school that has worked with the White Mountain Apache Tribe to develop a mascot that both sides find not only acceptable but educational, she considered the bill flawed.

“I worry that we are hurrying with this bill a one-size-fits-all measure that does not represent the diversity of our large state,” said Liu, who, on Arcadia High’s behalf, had tried to get Goldberg to provide for exemptions in her bill, without success.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Panorama City), who has carried a number of measures benefiting Native American casinos and tribes in recent years, said he had gotten to know well the 107 federally recognized tribes in the state. Although some are concerned with the stereotyping that often accompanies Indian mascots, he said, few consider it a pressing issue.

“I can’t support this bill because when I talk to the tribal leaders I know--and I know dozens of them--none of them are supporting this bill” but one, Cardenas said. A ban, he added, may have merit, but needs “more input by California Native Americans,” a suggestion that the Native American activists pushing the measure were not representative of the state’s tribes.