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A concern was recently
raised by a school district official regarding use of Native American images,
mascots, and team names. This agency's
response was twofold:
1.
To provide a resource for impacted school officials, the Iowa Department
of Education (DE) conducted a survey of districts that have a Native American
team name. The results were sent to
those districts who responded to the survey as a means of providing information
to a school leader who desires to talk about the subject in his or her
community.
2.
A joint public statement was issued recently by the Iowa Civil Rights
Commission, School Administrators of Iowa, the Iowa Association of School
Boards, and the DE regarding this issue. The statement, on the DE's website at http://www.iowa.gov/educate/content/view/1223/1532/ ,
is as follows:
Schools still using Native American
images, mascots, or team names may want to consider community conversations
with interested stakeholders to ensure that the schools are not stereotyping
any racial, ethnic, or religious group or are not misrepresenting any culture
or people.
Whether those conversations lead to
decisions to select new images, mascots, or team names is a matter of local
control. The willingness to initiate
conversations with interested stakeholders is an important step in ensuring
that schools are not unintentionally disrespectful and insensitive to Native
Americans and others who object to such stereotyping.
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