(The Center Square) – The Justice Department is being urged to prosecute two state agencies in New York based on the accusation of violating federal civil rights law by banning Native American-inspired mascots and logos.
The U.S. Department of Education said an investigation determined the New York Department of Education and the New York State Board of Regents violated the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after state agencies forced Massapequa School District, home of the Chiefs, to retire its mascot.
The agency’s Office for Civil Rights said Tuesday it has referred the case to the Department of Justice after the state agencies refused to sign an agreement requiring them to take steps to come into compliance with federal laws.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the state agencies “disrespected the people of Massapequa by implementing an absurd policy: prohibiting the use of Native American mascots while allowing mascots derived from European national origin.”
“Both of these entities continue to disrespect the people of Massapequa by refusing to come into compliance with the Office for Civil Rights’ proposed agreement to rectify their violations of civil rights law,” McMahon said in a statement. “We will not allow New York state to silence the voices of Native Americans, and discriminatorily choose which history is acceptable to promote or erase.”
The New York State Education Department called the investigation a “farce from the outset.”
“To the extent that any investigation took place, it represents a blatant attempt to do a political favor for the Massapequa Board of Education,” J.P. O’Hare, the agency’s communications director, said in a statement. “Our education communities, all of them, should reflect respect, not indolent symbolism masquerading as tradition.”
The Education Department’s probe was sparked by a complaint from the Native American Guardians Association. It said the Board of Regents was violating federal antidiscrimination law by “forcing the Massapequa School District to eliminate its ‘Chiefs’ mascot based on its association with Native American culture.”
Two years ago, the Board of Regents unanimously voted to prohibit the use of Indigenous team names, mascots and logos by New York public schools. The move was backed by civil liberties groups and some Native American tribes, who said Indian mascots promote negative stereotypes and gloss over brutal suppression of the region’s indigenous people by colonial governments.
Under the regulations, names or imagery can be used if the school district gets formal consent from New York’s indigenous nations or tribes. The deadline to comply with the new rules is June 30, and schools deemed in violation could face state funding cuts, according to education officials.
Four Long Island school districts, including Massapequa, challenged the regulations in U.S. District Court. In March a federal judge rejected the complaint.
The Massapequa School District is still fighting the battle in court to keep its Chiefs logo and nickname. Earlier this month, supporters of the legal challenge held a “Save the Chiefs” festival to raise money for the litigation.
