So you already don’t like the name Washington Redskins. The controversy over the name? Not really controversial at all. In your gut, you know it’s wrong.

Want some hard numbers to back up that gut feeling? A new study published by Chu Kim-Prieto, a psychologist with the College of New Jersey, provides them.

As this Indian Country Today story by Rob Capriccioso says, the study:

A University of Illiinois student portrays Chief Illiniwek. (AP photo)

…. suggests stereotyping of American Indians is a psychological process that actually encourages a broader attitude that affects all minority communities, not just the ones being actively stereotyped.

“In other words, my stereotype is your stereotype, too,” Jenn Fang, an Asian American advocate, summarized in a recent blog post regarding the study.

Kim-Prieto said she began the research when she was a graduate student at the University of Illinois, which until 2007 featured the infamous Chief Illiniwek mascot. Like the Washington Redskins, many Native Americans decried the Illinois mascot, saying it degraded their culture, and was a racist misrepresentation.

After looking at a picture of Chief Illiniwek, or a generic Illinois logo, students were asked to rank statements about Asian Americans.

Those who looked at the Chief Illiniwek picture were more apt to agree with stereotypes.

How does this relate – beyond in the most generic sense – to the Redskins?

Capriccioso talked about Km-Prieto’s work with Philip Mause, a lawyer for a group of Indian plaintiffs suing to get the Redskins’ trademark revoked.

“I think this should be clear to the Redskins’ owners, based on this kind of research, that they are going to be facing litigation from a variety of people for a long, long time,” says Mause, of the Drinker Biddle law firm. “Simply put, they should just change the name.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Chief Illiniwek, College of New Jersey, Gwen Florio, Native American mascots, Native American news, racial stereotypes, University of Illinois, Washington Redskins

“Respectful or Disgraceful?” That’s the title of the symposium today from 1-4 p.m. Eastern time at the Public Library in Bangor, Maine.

Four tribes lives within Maine, and several school teams have nicknames like Redskins, Braves, Warriors and Indians. Some of those schools have changed their mascots; others are sticking with them, Eric Russell of the Bangor Daily News reports here. (The News gave the story its own logo, shown at right.) With the issue continuing to have so much prominence around the country, it seems smart of folks in Maine to sit down and talk about it:

Today’s events will feature three separate panels: one representing Maine’s Native American tribes; another with representatives from schools still using potentially offensive names and symbols and those that have abandoned those names; the third made up of statewide media representatives.

[College professor Ed] Rice, who is well known for his advocacy of Louis Sockalexis, a Mainer and the first Native American to play Major League Baseball, stressed that the discussion is not meant to be a witch hunt.

“I think residents are learning that some of these nicknames, while meant to honor, are embarrassing to the state,” Rice said recently. “If you can’t yell out your nickname, don’t you know you have a problem?”

While the American Indian Cultural Support organization lists 31 schools in Maine with a racially insensitive mascot, Rice found that 18 of those have done away with their nicknames and four others have kept them but no longer use them on their uniforms.

Russell has written a really good, comprehensive story on the issue, not just as it plays out in Maine, but nationally. Check it out.

Gwen Florio

Tags: American Indian Cultural Support, Bangor Public Library, buffalo post, Cultural insensitivity, Ed Rice, Gwen Florio, Louis Sockalexis, Maine, Native American mascots, Native American news