Obama, Adidas Encourage Schools to Change Native Mascots

U.S. President Barack Obama said that schools are "failing" if their mascots are offensive during the Tribal Nations Conference on Thursday.

He took a poke at the Washington Redskins, whose name includes a racial slur, and praised a new Adidas campaign to help high schools re-brand teams using Native American mascots.

Though several Native American leaders praised Adidas, which pledged to fund the initiative in case schools lack the money and found a coalition on the issue, the Redskins pointed out the sports franchise's hypocrisy: Adidas AG sponsors Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III and sells equipment to several professional teams with Native American mascots.

Redskins lash out at adidas over 'hypocrisy' of helping high schools drop ... - https://t.co/E7FXtZmgPT https://t.co/1PiJmF9xXS

— ≡adidas Love≡ (@adidas_love0) November 6, 2015

Adidas Puts Money Where Mouth is on Mascots: To Provide Assistance to Schools Who Claim… https://t.co/FgoCyTLKw1 pic.twitter.com/XJV60eI6EI

— NativeNewsOnline (@Native_NewsNet) November 6, 2015

“Adidas make hundreds of millions of dollars selling uniforms to teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and the Golden State Warriors, while profiting off sales of fan apparel for the Cleveland Indians, Florida State Seminoles, Atlanta Braves and many other like-named teams,” said Redskins spokesperson Maury Lane in a statement.

In response, Adidas wrote The Washington Post that it would leave the re-branding decision of professional teams to the "leagues, teams, athletes, coaches and fans." It said it would keep its relationship with Griffin, but his image is no longer on its website. The Redskins claim to honor Native Americans with their name and have repeatedly refused to change it.

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Over 2,000 U.S. schools have Native American-themed mascots, down from about 6,000 in 1980. Last month, California banned schools from using mascots with a racial slur, and Colorado created a task force to work on the issue. School districts in New York, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oregon and Oklahoma changed their Native American mascots, and no professional team has created a race-based mascot since 1963.

Still, the issue continues to affect "the whole student body and, really, entire communities,” said Mark King, president of Adidas Group North America, in a press release.

An American Psychological Association study in 2005 found that that Native mascots affect the self-esteem of Native American students, and a newer study at the University of Buffalo concluded that they are more likely to cause white students to negatively stereotype.

#Obama says Native mascots can 'potentially' cause harm, but 1000s of Natives showing up to protest #KXL in DC spurs inaction & no concern?

— Nick Estes (@nick_w_estes) October 24, 2015