(Toledo News Now) -
By
Michael Miller, Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief
A recent complaint filed by the Michigan
Department of Civil Rights is asking the federal government to step in and prohibit
the use of American Indian mascots and imagery in K-12 schools.
I contend the state of Michigan, the federal
government in general, and the U.S. Department of Education in particular, have
better things to do than persecute communities for their school mascots.
I agree that "Redskins" is racist
and has no place in public discourse. I will even listen to your argument about
"Indians." But can the same be applied to "Braves"?
"Chiefs"? "Warriors"? Are there Native American students who are
being denied equal opportunity because their high school uses any of those more
innocuous mascots?
Reasonable people can agree that no student
should be subjected to institutionalized racism. So yes, "Redskins"
should go. But the government has no business micro-managing communities to
prohibit the use of mascots that no courts have determined are illegal.
Political correctness is one thing. Enforced
government intervention is a far worse offense than any use of warriors, chiefs
or braves on school logos.
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