Long Island school district must reinstate Native American mascot or face funding cuts, Trump administration says
A Long Island school district is caught in the middle of a growing state vs. federal showdown with its mascot at the center of the fight.
In 2022, 13 Long Island districts were ordered to drop mascot names like "Chiefs" and "Warriors" after the state ruled the imagery is outdated, demeaning and offensive to Native Americans, but the Trump administration sided with opponents of the ban.
Now, the Connetquot Central School District has been threatened with funding cuts unless it reinstates its old mascot name.
U.S. Department of Education rules New York mandate discriminatory
After changing their mascot from Thunderbirds to T-Birds to comply with the ban, the change was just ruled a violation of federal law.
"It's caught in the crossfire with the Trump administration, which is at war with blue states and diversity," Hofstra University education scholar Alan Singer said.
Singer said Connetquot's mascot is part of a much larger political fight.
The United States Department of Education ruled New York's mandate discriminatory because it only banned Native American mascots and not European heritage names, like "Dutchman" and "Huguenots."
"It's gonna have to be fought out in the courts," Singer said.
The school district told CBS News New York it's reviewing the federal ruling and weighing its options.
CBS News New York reached out to the U.S. DOE for comment, but they have not yet responded.
A spokesperson for the New York State Department of Education said in a statement:
"The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) continues to make a mockery of our nation's civil rights laws. USDOE has offered no explanation as to whose civil rights were violated by changing a team name from Thunderbirds to T-birds. And USDOE has still not explained why it maintains an open consent decree with a New York State school district to eliminate its Native American mascot. NYSED remains committed to ending the use of harmful, outdated, and offensive depictions of Indigenous people and will not sacrifice the dignity of the students and families we serve for political expediency.
"In April 2023, the Board of Regents adopted regulations developed in collaboration with a Mascot Advisory Council composed of representatives and leaders of Indigenous nations with connections to New York State to end the use of demeaning Indigenous names and mascots in New York's public schools once and for all. They were compelled to act because certain Native American names and images have been shown to perpetuate negative stereotypes that are demonstrably harmful to children. If we truly wish to honor our Native American people, we will teach our students the true history of the state's Indigenous people and how they advanced our civilization – rather than perpetuating outdated and disproven myths."
Connetquot community reacts to mascot fight
Some in the Connetquot School District are in favor of returning to the old team name.
"That's all complimentary to Native Americans," one person said.
"I don't think it's offensive at all," another person said.
"I feel like they're being honored in a way," another man said.
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.
Meanwhile, Connetquot is left in a legal and financial bind with funding cuts threatened by both sides, and the issue leaves students confused.
"Not only is it going to cost a lot of money for school to rechange everything, but now, we have to rebrand all our school apparel," one student said.
