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 Adidas announced earlier on Thursday that it would partner with
any high school across the U.S. that wanted to change its Native
American-themed mascot or logo. The company said it would offer
design expertise and financial help to schools interested in
rebranding.
At the seventh annual White House Tribal Nations Conference in
Washington, Obama praised the initiative as a step toward breaking
stereotypes.
“If you walk into a school the first day and you’re already feeling
that stereotypes are embedded in the culture and the cheers and all
that, right away that kid is feeling set apart, and different,” he
told the crowd of more than 500 Native American youth, tribal
organization leaders, senior administration officials and members of
Congress.
 He called the Adidas initiative “a very smart thing to do” and said
the 2,000-plus schools that still employ Native American mascots no
longer have an excuse not to change them.
“One of the top brands in the world is prepared to come in and use
all their expertise and come up with something that ... can bring
people together and give a fresh start,” he said. “I really want to
give them a lot of credit.”
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The comments followed a day-long event held by the White House that
brought Native Americans together with members of the administration
to discuss issues facing Native Americans. Adidas executives
attended the conference.
“I don’t know if Adidas made the same offer to a certain NFL team
here in Washington,” he said, referring to the Washington Redskins.
“But they might want to think about that as well.”
(Reporting by Megan Cassella; Editing by Chris Reese)
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