After a years-long battle, California just became the first state to ban all schools from using “Redskins” as a team mascot or name. On Sunday, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed AB30 to eliminate the offensive name, and it will go into effect on January 1, 2017.
The legislation was introduced last December by Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D). In May, California’s legislature chose to ban the name by a 60 to 9 vote. However, efforts to change the name have been ongoing since 2004. California’s legislature passed a resolution to ban it that year, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzanegger (R) vetoed it.
“California has the largest number of Native Americans in the country, it’s time we as a state take a stand against racial slurs used by our public schools,” Alejo said in May, when the legislature approved his bill. “This is part of a national movement and now is the time for us here in California to end the use of this derogatory term in our public schools.”
There are currently four public schools that use the name, which has grown into a major source of controversy in the past few years. Native Americans, who have long lamented the term’s use in sports, have fought tirelessly to change the NFL team’s name in Washington. Owner Dan Snyder has repeatedly said he will never change the name, and presidential candidates Jeb Bush (R) and Donald Trump (R) have voiced their support for Snyder. “Honestly, I don’t think they should change the name, unless the owner wanted to,” Trump said last week. “I know Indians that are extremely proud of that name.”
But in an official statement, National Congress of American Indians Executive Director Jackie Pata and Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter offered their approval of California’s new law.
“We applaud and extend our deepest gratitude to AB-30 author Assemblyman Luis Alejo, Governor Jerry Brown, and California’s lawmakers for 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,” they said.
They also believe California’s law shows that the tide is changing across the country.
“The most populous state in the country has now taken a stand against the use of this insidious slur in its schools, and Change the Mascot expects more states to follow. This landmark legislation eliminating the R-word in California schools clearly demonstrates that this issue is not going away, and that opposition to the Washington team on this issue is only intensifying.”