Board likely to push Kansas schools to remove American Indian mascots, other offensive imagery
Alex Red Corn was eating out with his children one day in Salina when a bus full of student athletes from Liberal High School pulled up and showed his children the kind of discrimination that still exists in dozens of Kansas high schools.
"I was sitting at an Applebee's, and the Liberal Redskins came into town," he said. "A whole bus full of Liberal Redskins-themed stuff was surrounding us at the restaurant, and my kids were there, and there was a level of discomfort there."
But that's a daily reality for the estimated 10,000 Kansas students who are Native American and either attend or are in the same athletic leagues of schools with disparaging, racist Native American imagery, said Red Corn, an assistant professor of educational leadership at Kansas State University and a member of the Osage Nation.
More:How can Kansas schools improve Native American education? Start by teaching it, advocates say.
Months after the Kansas State Board of Education helped organize a committee to address severe deficiencies in Kansas' education of and for Native American people, the group returned Tuesday with an initial proposal to have the state board formally recommend all Kansas high schools remove all Native American-themed mascot and imagery.
The board had helped create the group — temporarily called the Kansas Advisory Council for Indigenous Education Working Group while it reaches permanent status — after Education Commissioner Randy Watson had made disparaging comments toward Native Americans in February. While Watson had offered his resignation after Gov. Laura Kelly and state tribal leaders called for it, the state board rejected the resignation and instead suspended him for a month without pay.
In response to Watson's comments, Red Corn in the spring offered the board a few recommendations to improve Native American education, including the creation of the council, which he now chairs.
More:Kansas board rejects Randy Watson's resignation, suspends him over offensive comments
State board of education could suggest — but likely not require — removal of Native American imagery
The council's recommendation also encourages the board, education department and the Kansas Regents to do the following.
Review any state policies on school mascots and imagery, "with specific attention to how the practice of using American Indian-themed mascots and branding may be in conflict with goals related to student learning and well-being."
Ask that schools review local policies, to determine if they are in conflict with goals related to student learning and well-being, even if those schools don't have American Indian-themed mascots or imagery.
Recommend schools retire American-Indian themed mascots and branding as soon as possible, or in the case of school communities needed more in-depth engagement and planning, within the next three to five years.
Develop a support network for schools that need help transitioning to new imagery and branding, especially in connecting them with content-area experts and other schools that have previously undergone the process.
Explore funding for such transitions, including at community-, state- and federal-level sources.
Although the state education board could make the above recommendations, they likely could not require any of the above steps of schools in Kansas, where local control typically takes priority over state regulation. Red Corn told The Topeka Capital-Journal.
Why Indian imagery is harmful to Kansas' Native American youths
The council's recommendation relied on the research of several state and national-level groups, including the American Psychological Association, urging schools to ditch racist mascots, symbols and images.
Locally, the Kansas Association for Native American Education passed a resolution condemning the practice in 1998 and reaffirmed the statement in 2018, while the Governor's Commission on Racial Equity and Justice made the same recommendation in December 2021.
Several representatives from some of the four federally recognized tribes in Kansas — the Sac & Fox, Kickapoo, Prairie Band Potawatomi and Iowa tribes — spoke to the board Tuesday about impact they could have by simply making the recommendation.
More:State racial equity commission advocates eliminating American Indian mascots at Kansas schools
Prairie Band Potawatomi chairperson Joseph Rupnick said he regularly sees children in his tribe suffering after seeing disparaging attitudes and imagery against them, especially in the wake of Watson's comments in the spring, and that Native American Kansans are often "otherized," particularly when they are undercounted or placed in groups labeled "other."
He asked the board to consider the pledge they make before each meeting to the American flag and the oath they took when they were sworn into elected office.
"Before you all sat in your positions, you all took oaths to defend or to follow the Constitution of the United States,". Rupnick said. "Does that following of the Constitution only carry for those who look like you, and not like us? Are we going to remain divided, or should we take the necessary steps to start changing that mindset?"
At Royal Valley 337, many of the district's students are Native American, and the district has led the way in educating staff to be culturally conscious of each student's background. Aaric Davis, superintendent of the district, said that while the district's high school does not use Native American branding, many of its students — particularly student athletes — face discrimination from competitor schools at events and games.
More:Potawatomie Prairie Band Nation member urges more action after Randy Watson's disparaging comments
Most recently, opposing fans engaged in the "Tomahawk chop" to taunt his students, Davis said.
"This wasn't 10 years ago. It wasn't five years ago," Davis said. "It was two years ago. We hear the opposing student sections doing war cries from across the gymnasium. This imagery, these acts and the lack of education surrounding Native Americans creates an unsafe environment for my students.
"The Kansas State Board of Education does not have the power to change history. But you can begin today by helping fellow Kansans see that there are present-day, Native American students in our state, and these students should not be viewed as caricatures to be laughed at or taunted. These students have a right to attend school or a school activity without having to see these images on display."
Georgia Blackwood, an enrolled member of the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas and first-year student at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, told the board that growing up, Native American imagery and mascots had made her feel like her culture was a joke to non-Native Americans.
More:Randy Watson apologizes for Native American remarks, vows to do better by struggling students
Blackwood, then an eighth-grader, was one of several students who had lobbied the Kansas Legislature to disallow government entities and schools from prohibiting Native American regalia at public events. Then-Gov. Jeff Colyer signed that measure into law in 2018.
"I feel that the defense and support of these blatantly racist depictions let me know that my opinions aren't valid, and what I have to say isn't being taken into consideration," she said. "I didn't feel respected as an athlete, I didn't feel respected as a student, and I didn't feel respected as a human."
Board inclined to accept recommendation and suggest Kansas schools remove offensive imagery
The Kansas State Board of Education, which had vowed quick action on the issue of Native American discriminations, appeared poised to accept and pass the council's recommendations.
Board member Melanie Haas, D-Overland Park, had attended Wichita North High School, which had used an offensive Native American term for its mascot since its inception in 1929. The local school board in February 2021 voted to drop the mascot name, while keeping its simple logo of a shield, drum and feather.
"I don’t miss the mascot," she said. "I look forward to the day that we can eliminate those mascots from all Kansas schools, which I hope is very, very soon."
More:Kansas school districts are ditching offensive mascots. Some are finding the cost of change is high.
Beyond the mascot recommendation, board member Ann Mah, a Topeka Democrat who has served as the board's liaison to the council, said the group continues to meet and will likely return soon with recommendations for updates to state curricula.
The council also wants the education department to collect better data on the state's Native American student population, since many go uncounted when they're categorized as multiracial or "other." Red Corn's previous research suggests as many as 10,000 Native American students attend Kansas schools — a significant figure when those schools could apply for and receive federal grants to support Native American cultural education and enrichment.
Although board procedure prevented the recommendation from being voted on Tuesday, board chair Jim Porter, R-Fredonia, assured the council the board will take the proposal for a vote in November.
More:Native American boarding schools in Kansas supported US land grab and forced cultural assimilation
"Our vision is for Kansas to lead the world in the success of each student," Porter said, "and we have policies and procedures in school districts that are not consistent with that vision for 10,000 students. I'll assure you that I'm in support of this, and my vote will be there."
Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at 785-289-5325. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Native American mascots in Kansas schools could soon be gone
