Racist School Mascot

The Camden-Frontier School District had the dubious distinction of being the only school district in Michigan that retained a name and imagery associated with indigenous people by using the name “Redskins” as the brand for its sports program. In March 2023 the ACLU of Michigan wrote to the school board explaining that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination by any program (including a school district) that receives federal funding, and Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act likewise prohibits discrimination. The ACLU’s letter stated: “We are well aware of the racial demographics of the school district, and the fact that there are few students of color who ae currently susceptible to acts of racial animus. Nevertheless, school administrators should be mindful of this country’s ongoing demographic changes and shifting residential patterns that may result in an increase in the number of students of color in the district in the near future. What will be the racial climate in the schools when these students arrive? Will they be welcomed by students and teachers who are sensitive to both the impact of racial slurs and the extent to which their own racial perspectives may have been negatively distorted by lives in an insular, racially homogeneous community? Or will these students of color instead encounter resentful opposition to their arrival that manifests in unlawful harassment and discrimination?” We followed up with two oral presentations to the board, and in April 2023 the board voted to retire the racial slur. (ACLU Attorney Mark P. Fancher.)