California
to ban 'Redskins' for school sports, keep Confederate building names
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[October 12, 2015]
By Sharon Bernstein
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.
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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."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Oct/12/images/ads/current/stacy_sda_121014.png) California is the first in the nation to enact a statewide ban on
the term, although individual school districts, including Houston,
Texas, and Madison, Wisconsin have already done so, said Joel
Barkin, spokesman for the Oneida Indian Nation in New York state,
which has backed the Change the Mascot campaign.
Controversy over whether the Washington, D.C. National Football
League football team should continue to be named the Redskins has
spilled over into the race for the Republican presidential
nomination. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and billionaire Donald
Trump have said they do not see a need to change the name.
In another racially sensitive area, however, Brown vetoed a bill to
ban naming public property after Confederate heroes. Such names are
considered racist by many people because they honor those who fought
for the slave-owning South in the U.S. Civil War.
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But Brown, who last year signed a bill outlawing the sale of faux
Confederate currency at the state Capitol gift shop, said local
decision-makers should choose names for schools and parks.
"Recently we saw a national movement to remove the Confederate flag
from state capitols in the South - a long overdue action," said
Brown, a former mayor. "This bill, however, strikes me as different
and an issue quintessentially for local decision-makers."
(Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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