“You Know, We Are All Indian”

Abstract

In August 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ignited a firestorm of controversy when it announced a policy that would require colleges and universities with Native American mascots and imagery to refrain from displaying those during NCAA-sponsored events. The policy further stated that institutions with this imagery would be ineligible to host NCAA championships starting in 2006. This article examines what the controversy reveals about White people, power, and privilege. Consideration is given to the complications associated with who gets to claim being “Indian” and the racial trappings contained within the continuum of sustainable racism emerging in the scheme of NCAA policy exemptions. The article ends with a reflection on the role racialized Native American mascots play in perpetuating a culture whose level of tolerance for slights directed toward Native Americans cannot be reconciled with the central mission of higher education.