Trump's education secretary threatens to pull funding from NY over its
Native American mascot ban
[May 31, 2025]
By PHILIP MARCELO
MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. (AP) — New York is discriminating against a school
district that refuses to get rid of its Native American chief mascot and
could face a Justice Department investigation or risk losing federal
funding, President Donald Trump’s top education official said Friday.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, on a visit to Massapequa High
School on Long Island, said an investigation by her agency has
determined that state education officials violated Title VI of the
federal civil rights law by banning the use of Native American mascots
and logos statewide.
The department's civil rights office found the state ban is
discriminatory because names and mascots derived from other racial or
ethnic groups, such as the “Dutchmen” and the “Huguenots,” are still
permitted.
McMahon described Massapequa's chiefs mascot as an “incredible”
representation of Native American leadership as she made the
announcement backed by dozens of students and local officials in the
high school gymnasium.
“The Trump Administration will not stand idly by as state leaders
attempt to eliminate the history and culture of Native American tribes,”
the former longtime CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment said.
McMahon said her department will give the state ten days to sign an
agreement rescinding its Native American mascot ban and apologizing to
Native Americans for having discriminated against them and attempted to
“erase” their history.
JP O’Hare, a spokesperson for the New York education department,
dismissed McMahon’s visit as “political theater” and said the school
district was doing a “grave disservice” to its students by refusing to
consult with local tribes about their concerns.
“These representatives will tell them, as they have told us, that
certain Native American names and images perpetuate negative stereotypes
and are demonstrably harmful to children,” he said in a statement.
Representatives from the Native American Guardians Association, who
voiced support for keeping the chief mascot at Friday's event, also
don’t speak on behalf of local Indigenous residents, despite claims from
school officials, said Adam Drexler, a Massapequa resident and member of
the Chickasaw Nation.
“They’re Native Americans for hire,” he said, noting the group is based
in North Dakota. “They have no tribal authority.”
Meanwhile the National Congress of American Indians, considered the
country’s oldest and largest Native American advocacy group, reaffirmed
its long-standing opposition to the use of unsanctioned Native American
imagery.
“These depictions are not tributes — they are rooted in racism, cultural
appropriation, and intentional ignorance,” the organization said in a
statement ahead of McMahon’s appearance.
Trump ordered the federal education department to launch an inquiry into
the Massapequa mascot dispute last month, making the coastal suburb an
unlikely flashpoint in the enduring debate over the place of Indigenous
imagery in American sports.
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U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, center, joined by local
elected officials speaks during a visit to Massapequa High School,
Friday, May 30, 2025, in Massapequa, N.Y. (Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday
via AP)
Located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Manhattan, the town
has for years fought a state mandate to retire Native American
sports names and mascots.
But its lawsuit challenging the state’s 2023 ban on constitutional
grounds was dismissed by a federal judge earlier this year.
State education officials gave districts until the end of this
school year to commit to replacing them or risk losing education
funding.
Schools could be exempt from the mandate if they gained approval
from a local Native American tribe, but Massapequa never sought such
permission, state officials have said.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Trump ally who joined
McMahon on the visit, echoed the sentiments of residents who support
keeping the mascot. The Massapequa chief, he said, is meant to
“honor” the town’s Native American heritage, not “denigrate” it.
“They’re trying to change our culture, and we’re not having it,”
Blakeman said.
The town is named after the Massapequa, who were part of the broader
Lenape, or Delaware, people who inhabited the woodlands of the
Northeastern U.S. and Canada for thousands of years before being
decimated by European colonization.
But indigenous residents on Long Island have called Massapequa’s
mascot problematic as it depicts a Native American man wearing a
headdress that was typically worn by tribes in the American Midwest,
but not in the Northeast.
The cheery mascot also obscures Massapequa’s legacy of violence
against Native Americans, which includes the site of a Native
American massacre in the 1600s, Native American activists have said.
Massapequa, which is roughly 90% white, has long been a conservative
bastion popular with New York City police and firefighters.
Trump visited the town last year to attend the wake of a New York
City police officer and has made frequent visits to Long Island as
it has shifted Republican.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Hollywood’s Baldwin brothers and the Long
Island’s alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer are also among Massapequa
High’s notable alums.
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