Why were NCAA teams forced to change any Indian mascots and not any professional teams?
There are several reasons. Race-based nicknames are unacceptable for professional teams, college teams and high schools. All three have been opposed by American Indians since 1968 as discussed below. Public high schools and colleges are taxpayer-funded versus professional teams being private sector. Moreover, educational institutions should not promote racial stereotypes that are inherent with race-based athletic nicknames bcause the young age of students mean this affects identity formation and the images people develop about others. Research has determined that these racial athletic identities are psychologically harmful to American Indians, so it is a very important civil rights matter. So many non-Native people are so uninformed about this important education civil rights matter. That’s typical of most supporters of race-based nicknames. Do a Google search on “Indian mascots” and spend an hour learning, please! Many supporters of race-based nicknames are fond of saying “What about
