Pro sports teams are starting to get rid of racist names. Hundreds of U.S. high schools still have them
Schools with a Native American mascot
Tribal Lands
The Midwest and the Northeast
contain a majority of the schools
with racist mascot names
Unlike most states,
California’s mascots
tend to be concentrated
near cities, like
the Bay Area
or Los Angeles
Oklahoma has the
highest proportion of Native
Americans in the lower 48 states,
yet doesn’t crack the top 5 states
in number of mascots
Schools with a Native American mascot
Tribal Lands
The Midwest and the Northeast
contain a majority of the schools
with racist mascot names
Unlike most states,
California’s mascots
tend to be concentrated
near cities, like the Bay Area
or Los Angeles
Oklahoma has the
highest proportion of Native
Americans in the lower 48 states,
yet doesn’t crack the top 5 states
in number of mascots
Schools with a Native American mascot
Tribal Lands
The Midwest and the Northeast contain
a majority of the schools with racist mascot names
Unlike most states,
California’s mascots
tend to be concentrated
near cities, like the Bay
Area or Los Angeles
Oklahoma has the largest proportion of
Native Americans in the lower 48 states,
yet doesn’t crack the top 5 states
in number of mascots
Schools with a
Native American mascot
Tribal Lands
Schools with a
Native American mascot
Tribal Lands
Washington has finally crumbled.
After multiple lawsuits, the loss of a trademark and even calls from former President Obama, Washington’s football team will change its name, despite owner Dan Snyder’s insistence he would “NEVER” do so.
The pressure has squeezed other professional teams as well. The Cleveland Indians, who retired their Chief Wahoo insignia for the 2019 season, are reevaluating their name. There have also been calls from fans for other teams to change their names, including MLB’s Atlanta Braves, NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
According to an L.A. Times analysis, there are at least 897 secondary schools across the U.S. that share their name with one of six professional teams mentioned above. Using the site mascotDB.com, a database that lists around 50,000 sports teams names, we looked at the six names shared by professional teams, and cross-referenced them with maxpreps.com, a site focused on high school athletics.
The most common name is “Indians,” which 423 schools have. This is followed by Warriors (we’ve included only the Warriors that reference indigenous culture in their branding), Chiefs, Redskins and then Blackhawks.
Many of these teams tend to be in states with little to no Tribal Lands. Three of the top five states with the most references — Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania — have none.
Distribution of Native American names across high school teams
Indians 423
Warriors 210
Braves 105
Chiefs 71
Redskins 53
Blackhawks 35
Distribution of Native American names
across high school teams
Indians 423
Warriors 210
Chiefs 71
Redskins 53
Braves 105
Blackhawks 35
About 70 high schools, however, have already decided to change their names. Since 1990, a majority of those schools have changed from either “Indians” or “Redskins.”
There are multiple states that have introduced legislation to ban mascots. In 2015, California banned the use of the word “Redskin” for high school mascots, with four schools changing the mascot. Despite this ban, these schools were not banned from using Indigenous imagery, and fans can still wear apparel bearing the name to games.
Name changes from Indians and Redskins since 1990
1992
1999
2014
1st lawsuit against
trademark placed
Registration cancelled,
but is quickly overturned
Washington loses
trademark on name
Redskins
‘15
‘20
‘90
‘00
‘10
‘95
‘05
Indians
2014
Cleveland’s MLB team makes
“Block C” primary logo
2018
Cleveland’s MLB team removes
“Chief Wahoo” from uniform
Name changes from Indians and
Redskins since 1990
Indians
Redskins
‘90
1992
1st lawsuit against
trademark placed
‘95
1999
‘00
Registration
cancelled, but
is quickly
overturned
‘05
2014
Cleveland’s MLB
team makes
“Block C”
primary logo
‘10
2018
Cleveland’s
MLB team
removes
“Chief Wahoo”
from uniform