Colorado lawmakers vote to ban American Indian mascots in public schools

Colorado public schools will soon be banned from using derogatory American Indian mascots under a proposed law that the state legislature passed Thursday night.

SB21-116 is headed to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk for final approval after the Colorado Senate approved the House’s changes.

In becoming the fifth U.S. state to ban such mascots, public schools will have until June 1, 2022, to change their mascots or face a $25,000 per month fine that’ll go toward the state’s education fund.

Schools that already have agreements with one of 48 federally recognized Indian tribes with ties in Colorado can keep their mascots if the agreement was made prior to June 30, 2021, but the tribes can revoke those agreements at any point or the agreements can be ended by either party. If that happens, schools will have one year to find a new mascot.

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/06/04/colorado-ban-american-indian-mascots-bill/