State Senate bill targets two Indian mascots

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A state senator from Tulsa is continuing to push a bill that would eliminate the use of the names ``Redskins'' and ``Savages'' for mascots at Oklahoma's public

Sunday, February 20th 2005, 2:00 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A state senator from Tulsa is continuing to push a bill that would eliminate the use of the names ``Redskins'' and ``Savages'' for mascots at Oklahoma's public schools.

Senator Judy Eason McIntyre's Oklahoma Racial Mascots Act is pending before a Senate committee.

The bill originally listed several other mascot names, but McIntyre says she cut the list to improve the bill's chances of advancing.

But Republican state Representative Mike Reynolds says the measure should be defeated.

Reynolds says it's not the Legislature's job to write a dictionary on political correctness.

For two years, the Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism has lobbied the Tulsa Union School District to drop its Redskins mascot name.

In 2003, the board voted unanimously to keep the name.

Union School Board President Derek Rader says the public overwhelmingly supported keeping the name.