NY schools told to stop using Native American mascots

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Schools in New York state are under orders to stop using Native American references in mascots, team names and logos by the end of the current school year. New York’s Department of Education told them so in a memo that points to a court decision in June. The Cambridge Central School District north of Albany sued to keep its mascot, despite a state directive more than 20 years ago that told districts to stop doing so as soon as was practical. Native American activists have been vocal about the issue for years. The National Congress of American Indians says some 1,900 schools nationwide still maintain the harmful stereotypes.