Starting in 2017, the name “Redskins” will be banned for California public schools sports teams and mascots.
The new law, Assembly Bill 30, was introduced by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville and signed into law last year by Gov. Jerry Brown. The law says the use of "racially derogatory or discriminatory" athletic team names is "antithetical to the California school mission." Therefore, the term Redskins cannot be used as any athletic team name, mascot or nickname.
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When Brown signed the law, there were four California high schools that still called their teams the Redskins. One, Chowchilla High School, has changed it’s name to “The Tribe.” Another school, Calaveras High School, chose to have no team name, but it has kept its logo showing a Native American wearing a headdress.
An advocacy group called Change The Mascot praised the California law and told the L.A. Times it was one more step toward changing the name of the NFL’s Washington Redskins.
