Maryland's top panel on minority student achievement called on the state school board yesterday to stop the use of American Indian mascot names in public schools.
The recommendation will likely carry weight with the state board and represents a major step forward for the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs, which has been trying to end the use of Indian names as mascots in schools and athletic leagues.
"We think this kind of support will be a big help," said Dixie Henry, the commission's administrator. "We think that a resolution like this will help push schools into doing the right thing."
State schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said she backs changing mascot names and will try to persuade the board to approve the new regulations.
"We should look to raise the level of sensitivity to this issue," Grasmick said. "If we're committed to the idea of respecting the diversity of all students, then this can't be ignored."
The resolution approved yesterday by the steering committee of the Achievement Initiative for Maryland's Minority Students occurs little more than a week after the U.S. Justice Department announced plans to get involved in the dispute over Indian mascot names.
The minority achievement panel is a group of educators appointed by Grasmick to study and make recommendations relating to minority students in Maryland schools. The state board usually accepts the resolutions passed by the panel.
The Indian affairs commission is trying to persuade schools with such names as Indians, Braves, Redskins and Warriors to pick different mascots. About 30 Maryland schools have such names.
"No ethnic group should be offended by a mascot," said Richard Regan, a Montgomery County parent and member of the commission. "We don't see the mascot issue personified in other ethnic groups, only ours, and it needs to be changed."
In unanimously approving yesterday's recommendation to the state school board, the minority achievement committee agreed that if Indian mascot names are offensive to some students, then they need to be changed.
"This is an issue that demands attention," said Barbara Dezmon, the committee chairwoman and the Baltimore County school administrator who oversees minority achievement.
The board is unlikely to vote until the fall, and even if it agrees with the recommendation, schools won't change quickly, Grasmick predicted.
"Given the historical significance of some of the school mascot names and the ties they have to their communities and their alumni, it probably won't happen overnight," Grasmick said.
One school mascot name change might occur as soon as Monday night at the Montgomery County school board meeting. The community of Poolesville High School voted last month to keep its Indians name, but the county board is considering reversing the community's decision.
