I Have A Feeling They Will Succeed

This ought to be a local issue, not a state issue and certainly not a federal issue.
From the Detroit Free Press: The Michigan Department of Civil Rights is asking federal officials to issue a national ban barring schools from using American Indian mascots and names, saying the use of such imagery harms students of American Indian descent academically.
"A growing and unrebutted body of evidence now establishes that the use of American Indian imagery reinforces stereotypes in a way that negatively impacts the potential for achievement by students with American Indian ancestry," the department argues in the filing.
The complaint was filed on behalf of all present and future American Indian students and against 35 Michigan schools they say are "responsible for the alleged discrimination."
The issue of American Indian imagery in schools has sparked heated debate over the years, in Michigan and across the nation. In 2003, the state Board of Education adopted a resolution strongly recommending schools eliminate American Indian mascots and names, then reiterated its position in 2010....
Kenneth Gutman, superintendent of Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, said in a statement that his district prides itself on being culturally sensitive. Walled Lake Western is on the list because of its Warriors nickname.
"We serve the needs of more than 60 different cultures and ethnicities. It is never our intention to offend anyone," Gutman said.  http://www.freep.com/article/20130209/NEWS05/302090124/State-asks-U-S-to-bar-schools-use-of-Indian-names?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
I would like to see 1 legitimate study that shows Native American children suffer academically solely because of schools using Native American symbols as mascots.
The school I went to has the nickname "Coons", for raccoons. and when I ran cross country and track, we got a gym bag saying "Home of the Coons".  The nickname is also "Cooney".  Should the school get rid of the name because it may hurt the feelings of Black people?
Should I be pissed that Notre Dame has a mascot of a little Irish fighting leprechaun? (I'm of Irish heritage, with relatives coming from County Cork, Ireland)
If Indian students have all this anxiety over Indian names for sports teams, then they are really lucky to only have that problem.
But having lived next door to a couple of Indian reservations in North Dakota and Montana, I think it is safe to say that the problems Native Americans have is poverty, over reliance on the government, alcoholism and the lack of jobs.  It's not sports names.