Kansas City area school to drop Apache mascot: It’s ‘stereotyping Native peoples’
A Kansas City, Kansas, middle school will drop its mascot — the Apaches — as part of a district-wide review of mascots that could be considered culturally insensitive.
Last fall, the school board began the process of reviewing school mascots, “due to the possibility of them being insensitive to other ethnic groups and cultures,” district spokesman Edwin Birch said. Officials appointed a renaming committee, which met last week.
Birch said that after reviewing several mascots, committee members decided to first focus on changing the Arrowhead Middle School mascot. The Apache tribe was not from the Kansas City region, Birch said. He added that the mascot could be offensive to many, considered as “stereotyping Native peoples as aggressive or savages” or “treating Natives as a cartoon or something to not take seriously.”
He said the school has phased out imagery of the mascot over time, which is another reason to change it.
Research has shown that the use of Native American mascots can increase suicidal thoughts and depression among Indigenous people. One study — conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, University of Arizona and Stanford University — found that when Native American teens are exposed to such mascots, their community worth and self-esteem decreased.
Several school districts, universities and professional sports teams across the country are reviewing and changing such mascots.
Perhaps the most widely known is Washington’s NFL team, which dropped its offensive name and, 18 months later, became the Washington Commanders last month.
Last school year, the Shawnee Mission school board unanimously agreed that Shawnee Mission North High School and three district elementary schools must remove their “Indians” and “Braves” mascots. Thousands of residents petitioned for the change, arguing that the Native American mascots are racist and degrading.
Last May, Shawnee Mission North announced it would change its mascot from the Indians to the Bison.
Changing mascots can be expensive, requiring new signs, uniforms and branding.
Birch said that the KCK middle school could end up with a new mascot from a list of several ideas, including the Archers, Badgers, Bison, Blue Jays and more.
He said the district will next narrow down a name and get additional feedback from stakeholders.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 2:47 PM.
