Ruling against fans of the Birmingham High School Braves, a federal judge upheld a Los Angeles Unified School District policy Monday banning schools from using nicknames and mascots based on American Indians.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins forces the removal of dozens of paintings and logos at Birmingham High in Van Nuys, where alumni and boosters challenged the policy in an effort to save the school's mascot, adopted 45 years ago.
Some Native Americans rejoiced in the ruling as a victory for a multi-pronged drive to wipe out the widespread American custom of nicknaming sports teams after Indians, from high school to the professional leagues.
"We are overjoyed. We are very glad it has finally happened," said Eugene Herrod of Advocates for American Indian Children. "It took a long time, a lot of work, a lot of frustration. This shows that we are not mascots, we are human beings."
Herrod's organization is among dozens of Native American groups that have been working since 1975 to eliminate the use of American Indian names and mascots. He said a suit is now pending against the Washington Redskins football team, and a complaint has been filed with the state Board of Education to stop Arcadia High School from using an Apache Indian as its mascot.
Action also is planned next fall against Burroughs High School in Burbank, which uses the nickname Indians, Herrod said. Another nickname under attack is the Alemany High School Indians in Mission Hills.
Herrod called the use of Indian nicknames demeaning. "Ugly little mascots on the walls can be very offensive in the way they are used," he said.
The plaintiffs--Birmingham alumni who support the traditional nickname--said they will study the ruling, which had not yet been released by the court Monday, before deciding if they will appeal. They contended in a suit filed in January that the district policy "is unconstitutionally over broad in that 'Brave' or 'Braves' and 'Warrior' or 'Warriors' are not names of American Indians."
Although the district policy was upheld, the judge let stand a second portion of the suit charging the district violated constitutional free speech rights by banning the sale at school athletic events of privately manufactured T-shirts that read "Save the Braves, 44 Years of Pride."
