California to ban 'Redskins' for school sports, keep Confederate building names

[Little Tich]

Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California will ban public schools from naming their sports teams "Redskins," a name seen as a slur against Native Americans, but will not stop municipalities from naming parks and buildings for Confederate heroes, Governor Jerry Brown said on Sunday.

Brown's decision to sign a bill ending the use of "Redskins" yet veto legislation banning Confederate names comes amid controversy around the country over the racial implications of team names, display of the Confederate flag and the naming of public places.

Advocates for Native Americans welcomed the decision to ban the term "Redskins."

“The most populous state in the country has now taken a stand against the use of this insidious slur in its schools," activists from the group Change the Mascot said in a statement on Sunday. California is "standing on the right side of history by bringing an end to the use of the demeaning and damaging R-word slur in the state's schools."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/california-ban-redskins-school-sports-keep-confederate-building-224148830--nfl.html

[tomm2thumbs]

1. step by step.... takes time

I'll take the 1 step versus the 0 step

[pnwmom]

2. I don't know why he would veto the bill against naming buildings for Confederate heroes.

He says it strikes him as a local decision. Why?

[spooky3]

3. I had the same question.

It's good he took one step but don't understand why not the second, except for political reasons.

[jwirr]

4. This is an example of pitting one group against another. It

has been used to keep them fighting each other instead of joining together for decades.

And BTW the "r" word is more of an "n" word than the actual name of a person.

[dembotoz]

5. i went to custer high school in milwaukee....it was supposed to have been named cause it was on

custer ave at one time.....Who knows....

teams were at that time called the custer indians....yep you heard that right.....

the building now houses the barack obama school for the something or other.....

Anyway having a stupid team name from a stupid named high school is survivable....

we got bigger fish to fry

[NonMetro]

6. The guy in the t-shirt that said "I'm a Cherokee, not a redskin"

Would a team name "Cherokee" be appropriate? I mean, we do have Minnesota "Vikings" and Chicago "Blackhawks" and Boston "Celtics."

I understand why "redskins" is considered especially offensive, but I have heard the same about most other team names that call up imagery of native Americans.

Can or cannot a sports team have a Native American theme? I've seen that some teams called "Chiefs" have now adopted fire department imagery, completely submerging the Native American imagery. Is thatwhat is desired: remove all names, symbols, and signs that refer to people native to these lands before the arrival of the Europeans? For instance, the Cleveland "Indians" could be renamed the Cleveland "Pioneers", celebrating their American heritage?