“Today’s announcement is a great way for us to offer up our resources to schools that want to do what’s right – to administrators, teachers, students and athletes who want to make a difference in their lives and in their world”, says Adidas head of global brands Eric Liedtke, who traveled to the conference. The company also said it would be a founding member of a new coalition called Change the Mascot meant to address Native American imagery in sports.
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The most prominent case involves a professional team, the NFL’s Washington Redskins, whose owner has resisted appeals by Native American and civil rights groups to change the team’s name and mascot.
The use of such mascots has drawn increased attention and controversy in recent years.
A welcomed move: Change the Mascot, a national campaign to remove the Washington Redskins’ Native American name and mascot, applauded the news in a press release. High schools with these nicknames on the other hand, are in a little bit more hard of a spot. The company will lend their design resources to the schools, and will provide financial aid for those who can’t afford to stage a large-scale rebrand.
There has been a growing trend to change the names from logos that Native Americans would consider insulting. This latest development comes on the heels of California signing into law an historic bill, which will remove all R-word mascots from every public school statewide. A few colleges kept their nicknames by obtaining permission from tribes, including the Florida State Seminoles and the University of Utah Utes.
“But the issue is much bigger”, the statement continued. These social identities affect the whole student body and, really, entire communities. It ranges across every level of organized sports, and research by FiveThirtyEight shows 92 percent of more than 2,100 such nicknames are used by high schools.
“Adidas clearly understands that this issue is about picking which side you are on”, he said.
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At least eight high schools across the country have dropped “Redskins” names in the last four years. “They are choosing to be on the side of inclusivity and mutual respect and have set the bar for other businesses to now follow”.
