KXLY
February 12, 2021 2:17 PM Melissa Luck
Ted S. Warren
OLYMPIA, Wash – A bill that would prevent public schools from using Native American names, symbols or images as mascots or logos passed out of the Washington House Education Committee Friday and will now go to the full House for debate.
House Bill 1356 states that the use of “racially derogatory or discriminatory school mascots, logos or team names in public schools is antithetical to their mission of providing an equal education to all.”
The bill specifically focuses on Native American names, symbols or images.
Schools would have to change mascots and logos by January 2022. The original bill exempts schools that have enrolled boundaries within “Indian Country” or public schools on reservation lands.