New York faces Title VI probe over demand that school changes mascot

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Education opened a Title VI investigation into the New York Education Department over its threat to withhold funding from a school if it does not remove its American Indian mascot.

“The Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, stating that the New York Department of Education and the New York Board of Regents is violating federal civil rights law by forcing the Massapequa School District to eliminate its ‘Chiefs’ mascot based on its association with Native American culture,” the Department of Education said.

NAGA is a nonprofit dedicated to “advocating for increased education about Native Americans, especially in public educational institutions,” according to its website.

The Education Department’s release said that “the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will assess whether New York’s threat to withhold funding if the Massapequa School District does not eliminate its Native American mascot constitutes discrimination on the basis of race and national origin.”

NAGA told The Center Square that “the reason it is wrong” for schools to “change their Native icons is because it is a cultural genocide attempt of the anti American political left.”

“This legislative attempt violates the 14th amendment constitutionally protected civil rights of American Indians to be positively represented by schools who seek to emulate and honor Indian warrior prowess,” NAGA said.

NAGA also told The Center Square that New York’s threat “is not aimed at only Massapequa, but all communities in NY with schools represented by a Native American nickname and logo.”

NAGA explained that “mascot” is not the correct term for what New York says must be eliminated.

“A mascot is a sideline entertainer dressed up like an Indian,” NAGA said. What New York means by mascot is “a Native American nickname and logo,” according to NAGA.

The “loaded term ‘mascot’…engenders a false construct of something cartoonish,” NAGA said, something that “bolster[s] their false narrative,” of racism, NAGA said.

New York State Education Department (NYSED) spokesman JP O’Hare said in an April 25 statement obtained by The Center Square that NYSED “has not received any communication from the federal government on this issue.”

“However, the U.S. Department of Education’s attempt to interfere with a state law concerning school district mascots is inconsistent with Secretary [Linda] McMahon’s March 20, 2025 statement that she is ‘sending education back to the states where it so rightly belongs,’” O’Hare said.

NAGA, on the other hand, sees the case as legitimate because of “constitutional civil rights protections.”

O’Hare also said in his statement that “Massapequa has already filed, and lost, a lawsuit regarding this issue.”

O’Hare said the NYSED made its 2023 decision to end the use of Indigenous mascots and names in public schools because they can “perpetuate negative stereotypes” that are “harmful to children.”

Unkechaug Indian Nation Chief Harry Wallace likewise said in a statement obtained by The Center Square that American Indian mascots “perpetuate racist symbolism” that causes harm and that it’s “not about logic, it’s about emotion.”

However, to NAGA, “because a few radical Native activists supported by their left wing allies say it is fine to discriminate against the American Indian doesn’t make it legal nor ethical.”

Massapequa School District Board of Education has yet to respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.

However, President of the board Kerry Watcher said in the Department of Education’s press release that, “attempts to erase Native American imagery do not advance learning – they distract from our core mission of providing a high-quality education grounded in respect, history, and community values.”

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the release that the “Department of Education will not stand by as the state of New York attempts to rewrite history and deny the town of Massapequa the right to celebrate its heritage in its schools.”