Adidas is offering to help high schools nationwide drop Native American mascots.The athletic shoe and apparel maker said recently it will provide free design resources to schools looking to shelve Native American mascots, nicknames, imagery or symbolism. The German company also pledged to provide financial support to ensure the cost of changing is not prohibitive.
Adidas announced the initiative in conjunction with the White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, which includes leaders from the 567 federally recognised tribes. The company, which has its North American headquarters in Portland, Oregon, also said it will be a founding member of a coalition that addresses Native American mascots in sports.
According to the group Change the Mascot, there are about 2,000 schools nationwide that have Native American mascots.
The advocacy group says about a dozen schools have dropped Native mascots over the past two years and another 20 are considering a change.
Eric Liedtke, Adidas head of global brands who was at the Washington conference, said sports must be inclusive.
“Today’s announcement is a great way for us to offer up our resources to schools that want to do what’s right — to administrators, teachers, students and athletes who want to make a difference in their lives and in their world,” Liedtke said in a statement. “Our intention is to help break down any barriers to change — change that can lead to a more respectful and inclusive environment for all American athletes.”
Speaking to young Native Americans attending the conference, President Barack Obama applauded Adidas.
“I tell you, for Adidas to make that commitment, it’s a very smart thing to do,” Obama said. “Because those schools now really don’t have an excuse. What they’re saying is one of the top sports companies in the world, one of the top brands in the world, is prepared to come and use all their expertise to come up with something that’s really going to work; and that the entire community can feel proud of and can bring people together and give a fresh start.”
The voluntary program would give schools access to the company’s design team for logo redesign and uniform design across all sports. It seeks to be a collaborative effort with schools.
Adidas emphasised the initiative only involves high schools, and that the company is not mandating that schools change mascots and nicknames. The program does not involve its other agreements or sponsorships with professional or college teams, or with individual athletes.
The company said it embarked on the initiative because it became clear that schools “wanting to make a change had very little avenues to do so.”
The use of such mascots has drawn increased attention and controversy in recent years. The NFL’s Washington Redskins have resisted appeals by Native American and civil rights groups to change their name and mascot.
Maury Lane, an outside team spokesman for the Redskins, issued a statement criticising Adidas’ move. In Oregon, the state Board of Education in 2012 ordered high schools to ban such mascots or risk losing public funding. The schools have until 2017 to comply.
