A Delaware school district has voted to drop the nickname “Redskins” from a local high school after 81 years, despite a recent national poll showing that only 8 percent of Native Americans are bothered by the name.
The Red Clay Consolidated school board voted 4-2 Wednesday to strike the nickname and logo used by the Conrad Schools of Science, a grade 6-12 magnet school, over the heated objections of alumni.
“The overwhelming majority of students want to remain Redskins,” Conrad alumnus Jeff Nichols told the board during public comment, according to The Delaware News Journal.
The Redskins nickname has been used by the school for its sports teams since it opened as Conrad High School in 1935.
The vote, which came after more than a year of public discussion, comes as a sign that the longstanding American Indian nickname controversy is far from settled despite a Washington Post poll released May 19 that confirmed what other surveys have shown: Most American Indians don’t mind “Redskins.”
The Post survey of 504 Native Americans found 90 percent were “not bothered” by the Redskins nickname, prompting one Post editor to ask why the newspaper had spent so much time and energy fighting the term.
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The poll’s results were nearly identical to those of a 2004 Annenberg Public Policy Center, despite 12 years of opposition to the Redskins nickname by tribal advocacy groups like the National Congress of American Indians.
The poll prompted prominent Redskins critics like Washington Post associate editor Robert McCartney to drop their campaign to change the nickname of the NFL’s Washington Redskins.
“So it’s unsettling to learn now that I vented all that energy and passion on behalf of such a small fraction of the Native American population,” said Mr. McCartney in a May 20 op-ed.
“In light of the new facts, we non-Indian critics should stop pressing the team to change its name. We should drop the cause, even if we privately dislike the moniker,” Mr. McCartney said. “We shouldn’t let the name stand in the way of building a new stadium. If we really want to help Indians, we should instead advocate for better schools, job opportunities and social services for them.”
Sports columnist Fred Bowen said the survey made him realize that “it’s a good lesson for me or anyone else not to assume you know how other people feel without talking to those people.”
“I thought Native Americans would be upset by the name ’Redskins.’ The survey indicated that the vast majority are not or don’t care,” Mr. Bowen said in a May 23 column.
In Delaware, a committee appointed by the board to examine the Redskins issue voted last month to recommend eliminating the nickname.
Opponents of the Redskins nickname included Nanticoke Indian Tribe of Delaware Chief William Daisey, who has called the name a “slur.”
Sue Laushey, a 1971 Conrad graduate, said in a Wednesday letter to WDEL-FM that the panel only considered one side of the Redskins issue, and accused the school board of bowing to political correctness.
“Your board does not have enough evidence to vote the logo or nickname, guilty as charged. You cannot take any action until you do,” said Ms. Laushey.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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