Tulsa Coalition Supports Bill To Ban Indian Mascots

News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Many Native Americans say they are tired of the harmful stereotypes schools use as mascots.

"I'm not a redskin, and I'm not a savage; I'm a person," said Louis Gray, president of the Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism. "And when you objectify people in a negative way, it has meaning and it changes people."

The Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism threw its support behind a state senator from Tulsa at a news conference Friday.

Judy Eason McIntyre is sponsoring the "Oklahoma Anti-Discriminatory Mascots Act." It would force schools like Union to change their mascots from "Redskins" and "Savages" to something else.

In Oklahoma, 165 schools have Indian mascot names, and no school has volunteered to change its mascot.

Supporters of the proposed act are meeting at the State Capitol on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a Lobby Day.