Marion Will Change Name of Sports Team in 2021

The Marion High School sports program announced this week they are planning to drop the team mascot and name "Indians" effective in the upcoming 2021 season.

According to the Gazette, the Marion school board received a letter on September 24 from the Meskwaki Nation requesting a name change. The Meskwaki Nation are members of the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.

In their letter, members of the tribe stated “Native American people or Indians should not be viewed as ‘mascots’ for the pleasure of branding sports teams, schools or any other organization.”

After meeting and discussing the issue, the Marion Independent School District board of education agreed, and voted 5-2 Monday night to change the school’s mascot, effective July 31, 2021.

The Gazette said the school will likely keep the current color scheme of maroon and gold.

The change is not coming without a bit of pushback. According to the Gazette, an informal survey of more than 1,800 students, parents and community members showed that over 60 percent wanted to keep the team name, while only 28 percent said a name change would be the best course of action.

Perhaps the greatest irony of all these sports team names is that many of the names were originally chosen as a homage to the many positive traits of indigenous persons, including strength, wisdom and courage.

But that kind of thinking doesn't hold up to the argument that some have always felt these race-based nicknames continue to stereotype minority members of our society.

For those who thinks this is just too much "political correctness" perhaps the question should be asked why do you think there are no teams nicknamed the "Caucasians"?