American Indian mascots harm students

Sparked by the controversy at UND, I developed a study based on the Indian mascot and logo issue. The study involved 132 UND students, 37 percent American Indian and 63 percent non-American-Indian.

The survey sought to determine the effects of the mascot and logo on the UND students, and to see if there was a relationship between the team name/logo and racism. Of all students surveyed, 96 percent believe racism is a problem in America, and 90 percent believe there is racial discrimination against American Indians to some extent. The survey also showed that 57 percent of American Indian students want the logos removed or banned, and that a greater portion of American Indian students have negative opinions of the logos than non-American-Indian students. Part of their reaction to the logos could be blamed on the behavior of non-American-Indian students at a March 25 “Fighting Sioux” anti-logo protest, when Native students at UND were verbally attacked with negative stereotypical racist names. Such behavior could certainly be deemed racist and abusive, as defined by the NCAA.

There has been considerable evidence supporting the results of the survey.

The Harvard Law Review says that racial insults are documented to cause psychological and physical harm. Indian team names and mascots have been charged with fostering “racial stereotyping,” causing low self-esteem among American Indians and setting up children as targets for physical harassment by their peers.

The American Psychological Association has found similar results. APA President Ronald F. Levant says, “The use of American Indian mascots as symbols in school and university athletic programs is particularly troubling. Schools and universities are places of learning. These mascots are teaching stereotypical, misleading and, too often, insulting images of American Indians. And these negative lessons are not just affecting American Indian students; they are sending the wrong message to all students.”

Psychologist Stephanie Fryberg of the University of Arizona has studied the impact of American Indian sports mascots on American Indian students as well as European American students. Her research shows the negative effect of such mascots on the self-esteem of American Indian students. “American Indian mascots are harmful not only because they are often negative, but because they remind American Indians of the limited ways in which others see them,” Fryberg says. “This in turn restricts the number of ways American Indians can see themselves.”

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