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Indiana Schools With 'Redskins' Nickname Have No Plans To Change

Keith Allison
/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/6009909019

It doesn‘t sound as if schools in Indiana that still use the Redskins nickname are in any hurry to change it.

The use of the term has been criticized by Native American groups and others for many years, and this week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled the trademark used by the Washington Redskins football team, with the office saying it finds the name offensive.

The board cannot ban the team from using the nickname, however, and the team has said it will appeal the decision.   

Four schools in Indiana continue to use Redskins as a nickname or mascot; Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, North Side High in Fort Wayne, Knox High School and Goshen High School.

Fort Wayne Community Schools spokeswoman Krista Stockman says there hasn’t been, in her words, a “groundswell” of support for changing the name, even though some have advocated for it.

"I wouldn't say there‘s any plans on the horizon to change that mascot name or to change the logo," Stockman says. "There was one person who came before the board asking them to reconsider, and the board took no action. That‘s really the last we have heard of it from the community."

Stockman says North Side has used the Redskins name for at least seven decades.   Knox has used it for almost a century.

"At this point, there has been no conversation about changing it at all," says Knox Community Schools Superintendent A.J. Gappa.   

Manual High School, formerly an Indianapolis Public School, is currently operated by Charter Schools USA - it was one of the IPS schools taken over by the state in 2012, and the State Board of Education later handed over those schools to Mayor Greg Ballard‘s office.

However, CSUSA says it does not have jurisdiction over the Redskins nickname.

"It‘s an IPS issue. We just manage the school," says CSUSA spokeswoman Colleen Reynolds. IPS referred questions back to CSUSA, saying it no longer had any say on matters related to the school.

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