Gov. John Kitzhaber has gone on record as saying he will veto Senate Bill 215. This bill, which has passed the House and Senate, would effectively overturn the Oregon Board of Education's 2012 decision to eliminate the use of Native American mascots in Oregon schools. At issue here are both group and individual rights -- sovereign tribal cultural property rights, and Native students' human and civil rights. Exposing individual Native students to mascots, targeting and bullying for sport, recreation and entertainment is not dignified or honoring, and is race-based discrimination. These rights are violated regardless of a "thumbs up" from a few local elected tribal leaders. But in fact, the vast majority of tribal leaders in the United States have made their views on this issue known and have asked for a ban on mascots.Get the Story:
Se-ah-dom Edmo and Sam Sachs: Native mascots dishonor Oregon's tribal people (The Oregonian 7/3) Another Opinion:
Editorial: Keeping a controversy alive (The Eugene Register-Guard 7/3) Also Today:
Governor may veto waiver (The Lebanon Express 7/3)
Oregon’s ban on Native American mascots gets complicated (Yahoo! Sports 7/2)
Related Stories
Oregon governor set to veto bill with Indian
mascot exception (7/2) Reyn Leno: Grand Ronde Tribes back use of Indian mascots (05/01)
Oregon Senate passes bill to create Indian mascot exception (04/18)
Oregon Senate to vote on bill that allows some Indian mascots (4/9)
Oregon lawmakers tackle ban on Indian mascots at schools (4/4)
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