Adidas Offers to Help Eliminate Native American Mascots

[Brie]

Well, this is cool.

Adidas has announced an initiative to help high schools nationwide drop Native American mascots.

The German athletic shoe and apparel maker says it will offer free design resources to schools looking to shelve Native American mascots, nicknames, imagery or symbolism. The company also pledges to provide financial support to ensure the cost of changing is not prohibitive.

It asked high schools interested in making the change to contact the company via email.

Adidas announced the initiative in conjunction with the White House Tribal Nations Conference on Thursday in Washington. Adidas executives were among those attending the conference, which includes leaders from the 567 federally recognized tribes.

According to the group Change the Mascot, there are about 2,000 schools nationwide that have Native American mascots.

"The growing movement to end the use of Native American mascots, particularly the dictionary-defined R-word slur, is surging forward all across the nation," Change the Mascot said in a statement.

Eric Liedtke, Adidas head of global brands who traveled to conference, said sports must be inclusive.

"Today's announcement is a great way for us to offer up our resources to schools that want to do what's right -- to administrators, teachers, students and athletes who want to make a difference in their lives and in their world," Liedtke said in a statement to The Associated Press. "Our intention is to help break down any barriers to change -- change that can lead to a more respectful and inclusive environment for all American athletes."

The voluntary program would give schools access to the company's design team for logo redesign and uniform design across all sports. It seeks to be a collaborative effort with schools.

The use of such mascots has drawn increased attention and controversy in recent years. The NFL's Washington Redskins have resisted appeals by Native American and civil rights groups to change their name and mascot.

In 2005, the NCAA warned schools that they would face sanctions if they didn't change Native American logos or nicknames. Some colleges kept their nicknames by obtaining permission from tribes, including the Florida State Seminoles and the University of Utah Utes.

Some states have taken action at the high school level. Last month California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that prohibits schools from using the term "Redskins."

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper recently ordered the creation of a commission to study the use of Native American mascots and come up with a list of recommendations for possible legislation

In Oregon, the state Board of Education in 2012 ordered high schools to ban such mascots or risk losing public funding. The schools have until 2017 to comply.

"High school social identities are central to the lives of young athletes, so it's important to create a climate that feels open to everyone who wants to compete," Adidas president Mark King said in a statement. "But the issue is much bigger. These social identities affect the whole student body and, really, entire communities.

"In many cities across our nation, the high school and its sports teams take center stage in the community and the mascot and team names become an everyday rallying cry."

[Deleted]

That's great! A local high school got rid of it's Redmen mascot a year or two ago. They're the Redhawks now.

[bernsteincat]

Very admirable.

[omgzombies]

That's great. My high school was the Chieftains, and it always irked me. Sadly, it's a devout football school, and incredibly anti-change, so I doubt they would ever take advantage of the offer.

[darthnbjenni]

My high school mascot was the Warriors. They've moved away from an outline of a man in a headdress, and more towards an R (school name) with a spear instead.

[thejackpot]

So cool!

[lilafowler]

There are two high schools in my hometown and the name of the football team for the school I didn't attend (only due to geography) is the Red Raiders. And the mascot is hella offensive. It's supposedly based on the profile of a former graduate of Eastern European descent who became a big deal popular dentist but omg.

[fuckyourcouch]

I watched this conference live this morning. I thought thus was awesome!

[2curlydogs]

There's a reason we're an Adidas household.

[pixy0stix]

hrmmm... now if only they'd stop manufacturing their clothing in sweatshops.

[eclaires]

Nov 5, 2015 21:08:12 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

hrmmm... now if only they'd stop manufacturing their clothing in sweatshops.

And stop trying to make short sleeve jerseys for basketball happen.

[CallingAllAngels]

Nov 5, 2015 19:12:53 GMT -5 darthnbjenni said:

My high school mascot was the Warriors. They've moved away from an outline of a man in a headdress, and more towards an R (school name) with a spear instead.

Hmm...if you went to high school in the city I have seen you post about before, I think we went to the same HS.

[taratru]

Good for them.

There are SO many mascots in Colorado that are Native American related, including one of the high schools in my town. I'll be interested to see how that plays out.