If you've been worried that the federal Department of Education Office of Civil Rights has been napping-- fear not. Yesterday they announced that after an investigation, they have determined that Connetquot Central School District in Long Island, NY, has been Very Naughty.
Specifically, they changed their mascot's name from "Thunderbirds" to "T-birds." This was the end result of a lawsuit against the state over the state's rule that schools had to get rid of their Native American mascots. CCSD was one of the districts that sued the state, and the mascot change was part of the eventual settlement of that suit. It was a contentious decision, made just last fall, which Native Americans argued didn't change nearly enough to comply with the state order to drop school mascots based on Native American images, possibly because, as near as I can tell, the change seemed to involve going from a bird to, apparently, a bird with a slightly different name (a name that the school had often used in places where the full name wouldn't fit). It raised enough noise to attract coverage by Sports Illustrated. (This, mind you, is a district that has banned Pride flags.)
But the feds have declared that this mascot change shall not stand.
See, New York was already in trouble because the state education department had banned Native American mascots, which touched off a kerfluffle in Massapequa over the school's traditional "Chief" mascot. That earned them a visit from Education Secretary Linda McMahon, some noises of support from Trump, and a so-speedy-one-might-suspect-no-investigating-was-done investigation that determined that the state was violating the Trumpian interpretation of Title VI. Why could some schools call themselves, say, "Dutchmen," but not some kind of Native American (hint: some communities actually include people of Dutch descent). It's a complicated issue, but I suspect that for the Trump regime, it's no more complicated than "White people should get to use Native American imagery as mascots if they want to."
At any rate, CCSD was under "investigation" by the department months before they made a final decision. Almost as if the department was using the threat of an investigation to intimidate the district into a particular decision, a sort of agency level use of Dear Leader's fondness for lawfare and threats of lawsuits to bend opponents to his will.
But the department has now reached their conclusion. The announcement came from Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey:
Today, we found Connetquot Central School District in violation of Title VI for erasing its Native American heritage to comply with a discriminatory New York state regulation. We will not allow ideologues to decide that some mascots based on national origin are acceptable while others are banned. Equal treatment under the law is non-negotiable. We expect the District to do the right thing and comply with our resolution agreement to voluntarily resolve its civil rights violation and restore the Thunderbirds’ rightful name. The Trump Administration will not relent in ensuring that every community is treated equally under the law.
Richey's background as announced by the department on her confirmation mentions that she "has consulted for various organizations, including Parents Defending Education, and previously served at the U.S. Department of Education from 2004-2009 under the George W. Bush Administration and more recently under the Trump Administration from 2017-2021." It also calls her a "certified teacher and attorney," though her LinkedIn account shows no signs of an actual teaching job. She has lawyered for the Oklahoma department of education, worked as managing director for federal advocacy and public policy for the National School Boards Association, deputy secretaried for Virginia's department of ed, and served as senior chancellor for Florida's department of education.
OCR has "offered" the district the chance to sign off on a resolution agreement that would require them to "reverse its discriminatory erasure of Native American imagery by readopting the name 'Thunderbirds' for its sports teams," logos, mascots, etc.
This call to reverse this dreadful "erasure" comes the same week that the Trump administration removed the informational signs about slaves at the President's House in Philadelphia, attempting to erase the memory of Washington's slaves. It is also the week that, of course, the Department of Homeland Security continued its efforts to erase immigrants. So I'm not sure the high dudgeon over erased Native American sports mascots rings very authentically.
The district has told news media that it is looking at its options. And while some community members think the old Thunderbirds mascot is just fine, Carolyn Gusoff of CBS in New York though to ask an actual Native American.
Chief Harry Wallace of Long Island's Unkechaug Nation disagrees. "It's a total fallacy to say that it honors the Native American people," he said.
He said the imagery is a desecration of their symbols and harms students.
"As they grow up from children into adults, they carry with them that stereotypical image of hurt and harm and shame," he said.
Despite the mention of funding loss in some coverage, the Ed Department release mentions no actual financial threat. Perhaps that is because district leaders and the feds are on the same side, and this is mostly a swipe at the state government. It's a whole situation with no winners.
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