Schools encouraged to remove Indian mascots

MANTEO, N.C. -- Many schools still have not changed their team nicknames years after the issue of Indian mascots in North Carolina schools was raised. The Virginian-Pilot reported Friday that former state Board of Education member Eddie Davis spoke at a Dare County education board meeting. He encouraged Manteo schools to stop using Indian mascots, particularly the "Redskins" team name. Manteo Middle School's principal Terry McGinness said Dare County has worked to diminish any potentially offensive characterization by scaling down use of Indian-head images in logos at the schools. Seventy-three of the state's 117 school districts used Indian mascots in 2000, now 42 do. The state education board asked districts to review their policies toward Indian mascots, but letting schools decide. (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)