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Some time ago, a 'Call to Action' went out asking all human beings to voice their concerns to the Publisher, Editors, and Staff of the Birmingham News, Alabama, in support of freelance journalist Veto Roley's position that "Indian" team nicknames should not be further falsely validated through their use in reporting.

We would like to ask all people to begin a campaign to ask their local media not to use "Indian" sports team nicknames in their reporting nor use images of the mascots or logos whenever possible.

Several journalists, newspapers, and radio stations have already taken the position that using "Indian" sports team's nicknames and images is not appropriate. These include the Seattle Times, Portland Oregonian, Minneapolis Star Tribune (policy available if interested), Salt Lake Tribune, Radio One, WASH and WTOP in Washington, D.C., Bob Laskowski of KOTA radio in Rapid City, and Tommy Gallagher of the Hutchinson News in Kansas.

A sample letter is appended below. Please send it or one of your own to national and your local media sources.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Director:

The use of Native Americans as mascots has been fought for over 30 years by both Native American peoples and others who recognize the harm of stereotypes and the harm of using a race for sports and entertainment.

Please do not use school/university and professional team names such as "Redskins" (a racial slur that refers to bounty-hunting), "Indians", "Chiefs", "Braves", "Warriors", "Fighting Sioux/Illini", and the like. Please do not show images of the logos nor the costumed mascots used by these teams.

We, in agreement with the Native American Journalist Association, feel that use of offensive and racist mascot names and images in the media violates journalistic ethics. As Mary Annette Pember, President of NAJA, has said, "Using racist images and words is inflammatory and irresponsible journalism. Such racist sentiments fuels racial distrust between Native Americans and mainstream America."

We know that media professionals around the world contribute a great deal to the fight against racism. Ignorance of different cultures, traditions and beliefs and lack of understanding about how offensive the use of Native people as mascots really is still lead to stereotypes that reinforce racist attitudes. We know that journalists and media staff realize the potential impact of their words and images upon the local community and society at large.

The media should be aware of its audience and accessible to all its readers. Throughout the country, the audience includes Native American peoples; by using names that are offensive to a portion of the audience, the media risks alienating a large part of the readership/viewers/listeners. Native and non-Native people should be able to, for example, read the newspaper, listen to the radio, and watch the news on television, without encountering such stereotypes and displays of bigotry.

We ask that journalists and media staff at national, regional and international levels reassert the principles of ethical journalism. We ask that you eliminate the use of racist words and images to strengthen the quality of media coverage. No other race of people is used as mascots or tokens of luck for sports. If another race were used as mascots, we know that the media would not support nor perpetuate this racism by using those words and images in reporting. We ask that the same policy apply to the words and images that reduce Native people to mascots and tokens of luck.

While the effort to have schools, universities, professional sports teams, and other organizations change the use of Native people as mascots to mascots that do not target a race of people is ongoing, we ask that the media do not falsely validate these names, logos, and mascots by using them in reporting.

Below are links to several articles about the problems of using “Indian” names and mascots in sports reporting. Please contact us with any questions you may have and let us know that you will no longer use offensive names and images in reporting.

Sincerely,

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