The New York State Education Department issued a memo Thursday mandating that all its schools stop using Native American mascots, names, logos, and imagery.
Districts have complied, but Senior Deputy Commissioner James N. Baldwin called out Cambridge Central School District as one of a few that has not complied. Cambridge voted to retire its"Indian" imagery only to reinstate it, which sparked community members to file a legal appeal to Commissioner of Education Dr. Betty A. Rosa, who ruled to continue to retire the imagery. The district went on to appeal to the Supreme Court, where Rosa's determination was upheld.
"Thus, the court’s decision establishes that public school districts are prohibited from utilizing Native American mascots. Arguments that community members support the use of such imagery or that it is 'respectful' to Native Americans are no longer tenable," Baldwin's memo read.
Former Commissioner Richard P. Mills issued a memo in 2001 in an attempt “to end the use of Native American mascots as soon as practical.” Mills claimed that the presence of Native American imagery could"become a barrier to building a safe and nurturing school community and improving academic achievement for all students" at the time.The Waterloo Central School District and Lyme Central School District are the two most recent districts to retire their Native American mascots.
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