Commission Orders Neshaminy To Stop Using Stereotypical Native American Imagery

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) on Monday afternoon approved a final order calling for the Neshaminy School District to stop the use of iconography that can “negatively stereotype Native Americans.”

The final order approved by the majority of PHRC Commissioners at their monthly public meeting in Harrisburg stated the district “shall cease and desist from the use of any and all logos and imagery in the Neshaminy High School that negatively stereotypes Native Americans.” In addition, it states “the use of the term Redskins shall be permitted so long as the requisite educational information is provided to district students to ensure that students do not form the idea that it is acceptable to stereotype any group. The educational requirement shall continue as long as the district continues the use of the term Redskins.”

The Commissioners elected to allow the district to keep a statue of a Lenape tribe member found in the Middletown high school. They also ordered administration to “develop an appropriate educational experience.”

According to the PHRC, the district has 30 days to report on compliance of the terms of the final order. Within 90 days, the district is required to file a report on whether all “negative stereotypical images or logos of Native Americans” have been removed. If Neshaminy opts to continue using the Redskins name, the district has to report on actions taken to comply with the educational requirements and has to file a yearly compliance report.

“The majority of the PHRC Commissioners agreed with the recommendation of the Hearing Examiner based on the evidence presented, all agreed that the use of a name, logo or imagery that negatively stereotypes Native Americans is not acceptable,” the PHRC said in a statement.

“What was acceptable long ago, may no longer be acceptable, this is one such instance. I recognize that had there been testimony from a Native American student explaining how he or she were offended by the term, the hearing examiner may have found that the term was discriminatory and the continued use of that term was, in and of itself a violation of the PHRA,” said Chairman of the Commission Joel Bolstein.

Commissioner Michael Hardiman filed a concurrence and dissent opinion that the PHRC “failed to present sufficient evidence that a Native American student or students were harmed by the use of the word Redskin and the associated logos and imagery.” However, he agreed that the district violated the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

Neshaminy spokesperson Chris Stanley said attorneys for the district are still reviewing the decision and there will be no immediate comment.

The hearing examiner for the case, Carl Summerson, oversaw a week of testimony from both sides of the issue earlier this year. He wrote the opinion approved by the Commissioners on Monday.

“Each of the logos and imagery found at Neshaminy High School must be reviewed independently to determine whether the logo or imagery depicts a negative stereotype,” he wrote.

Summerson also wrote that the district “failed to provide non-Native American students with the information necessary to prevent the formation of the idea that specifically stereotyping Native Americans is acceptable and, by extension, generally, the idea that stereotyping other minorities is also acceptable. Such a learning environment is unacceptable.”

The hearing examiner also talked about incidents where copies of The Playwickian, the high school’s student newspaper, were destroyed when students wrote editorials about the use of the terms “Redskins.”

Summerson said the district allowing students to display Native American stereotypes do not show honor to indigenous people or culture. He said the actions were a “spectacle and thereby perpetuate a racial stereotype.”

The district is able to appeal the PHRC decision to a court.

Following the weeklong hearing on the matter earlier this year, the Neshaminy School District submitted a brief that the PHRC lacked jurisdiction to decide on the matter. The PHRC field a brief in reply with case law that showed they had jurisdiction over the district.

The debate over the Redskins name and iconography has boiled in Neshaminy over the years.

Donna Boyle, a district parent who is part Cherokee, filed a complaint with the PHRC in 2013 that made the case the term and related mascot caused distress for her child due to their indigenous heritage. Boyle had brought up her complaint to administration and school board members going back to at least 2012 and has made her voice heard from time to time at public meetings.

The 2013 PHRC complaint was dismissed voluntarily in October 2015 and the PHRC later filed additional litigation against Neshaminy.

The district has denied the PHRC’s claims over the years.

Groups of Neshaminy residents have backed the use of the Redskins name and imagery over the year. A common argument is the name and images have been used for so long that it is acceptable and they mean no disrespect.

At the PHRC hearing this year, the district stated the use of the Redskins name at the high school can be traced back to at least 1932.

The Neshaminy Redskins debate has gained attention from national and regional press over the past years. In 2014, there was a nationally-watched disagreement over whether the high school newspaper could use the term and also over editorial control.

Schools and sports teams across the nation have strayed from using Native American-influenced names and mascots due to concerns that they are racist and derogatory. A number of organizations representing those with native heritage have joined with civil rights and religious groups, including the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in calling for renaming teams and mascots that use controversial Native American names.

The Neshaminy name is derived from the indigenous Lenni-Lenape people’s work Nischam-hanne, which means “double stream” and “place where we drink twice.” The Neshaminy Creek runs through the school district in Hulmeville, Langhorne, Lower Southampton, and Middletown. The Lenni-Lenape tribe were not widely known to dress like the images Neshaminy and students often use in relation to their sports teams.

Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) Opinion & Final Order On Neshaminy (Text)

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