In a curious announcement late last week, the NCAA banned the use or representation of Native American mascots by schools participating in any post-season tournaments.
What exactly does this mean? Schools like Florida State (Seminoles) or Illinois (Fighting Illini) will still be eligible to participate in NCAA tournaments, but they'll have to leave parts of their identities behind. There will be no dancing mascots during timeouts, and if their nickname normally appears on their uniforms, it will have to be either covered up or removed. It's my guess, however, that "tournament jerseys" bearing the schools' names rather than nicknames will be created and sell like gangbusters.
The deeper financial significance lies in the second tier of the NCAA's decree. No school with a Native American mascot or nickname will be allowed to host an NCAA tournament game, meaning that baseball powerhouse Florida State would have to give up the considerable revenue that comes from hosting NCAA regional and super regional baseball series. Either that or strip their field of all Seminole references and images. Illinois and Utah (Utes), both frequent sites for NCAA basketball tournament games, would face the same decision.
Though there are some who disagree with the edict, accusing the NCAA of strong-arming its member institutions in the name of political correctness, I think it's time these mascots were put to rest.
Certain forward-thinking schools came to their senses on their own. The Stanford Indians became the Cardinal in the early '70s, and more recently the Eastern Michigan Hurons switched to the Emus while St. John's dropped Redmen and now call themselves the Red Storm. Other schools, however, need the push that this rule will provide.
By forcing its members to rethink their nicknames, the NCAA is taking a stand against racial intolerance. We would not, after all, buy a jersey for a team called the Pittsburgh Negroes or the Kansas City Jews, but thousands of Seminole, Brave, Ute, Illini, and Chippewa jerseys are sold every year.
Hopefully the NFL and Major League Baseball are paying attention. The teams with probably the two most egregious examples of culturally offensive mascots are the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins. The Indians' mascot Chief Wahoo, with his hooked nose and enormous buck-toothed grin, seems to be from another century, during a time when racist caricatures were common and acceptable. In Cleveland the calendar appears stuck in the 1800s.
And the Washington Redskins? Schools like Florida State can at least argue that they are honoring a particular tribe's heritage and bravery in battle, but the professional football team that represents the capital city of the United States of America uses a racial slur as its nickname. Imagine if they were the Washington Japs or Niggers? How long would that last?
It's my hope that the NCAA's recent ban on such offensive mascots and nicknames serves as a wake-up call not only for colleges and universities around the country, but also for teams like the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, and Atlanta Braves. This is the 21st century, after all.
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