High School Spirit Day Question

I'm going to make a few assumptions based on personal experience and that of my teenagers. The kids plan the dress-up days. It's meant to be a fun day. The high school my daughter attends is very close to a reservation and there are a lot of native children who attend. Today happens to be "Western Day", but she mentioned to me that some of the kids were going to dress as Indians (they happen to be of that heritage). None of the kids are promoting negative stereotypes. They're having fun - same as if they dressed like a princess, pirate or any other character. Yesterday it was character day. They're dressing up for fun, not in a demeaning or derogatory way.
The question shouldn't be whether WE as the parents are offended, it should be whether the kids are offended since this is their school and their event.

What are they going to do next year? Black face mammy days? Things that use to be deemed ok sometimes aren't ok anymore. Where was the school administration when this was decided?

Are the students going to be dressed in actual native dress or just someones opinion of what an Indian "costume" should look like? Is there a spirit of cooperation, respect and friendship or will their be a warring and competitive atmosphere that would reflect badly on the whole school? Those questions would help me give you a better answer. I am an FSU grad and Florida State has long running agreements and cooperation with the Seminole Indian tribe in Florida. That relationship is honored and treasured on both sides. How do the Native Americans feel about the spirit day? I am conservative for the most part, but I do stick up for the "underdog." If this could be a good learning experience, I would be in favor of it. If it could create problems in the study body, I would guide the students to think up a better theme for student day.

Outdated and inapprptriate. Some will disagree I'm sure but let's not forget there was a time when blackface was considered acceptable and funny.

Not a good idea.
They could promote on 'Old West' day - and everyone could pick what that means to them.
Considering that 'Indians' was ALWAYS a misnomer (they were never from India and they are called Native Americans last I heard), I'm surprised the school would promote it.
If they had an Ethnic Heritage Day - then everyone could come dressed in their own costumes - expect kilts for anyone descended from Scotland, etc.

What I really find offensive is trying to categorize the responses into conservative, moderate and liberal.
I defy being categorized into any label you try to pin on me.

Are these students of native descent or is this just costumes based on stereotypes of native peoples?

It isn't just offensive to native people, it should be offensive to everyone, unless of course it is about educating the students about a particular culture (natives of the school's particular geographical area) or even the history of a profession (cowboys). Why perpetuate stereotypes of anyone?

Think about your ethnic background...how would student who did not know much about it use stereotypes as a way to "have fun." For example, the drunk Irish priest or the leprechaun, for the Irish. Or the mafia for the Italian?

I am of the camp that we need to stop looking for reasons to be offended when no offense was meant. Sorry but this is picking a topic for a spirit day, its intent is not to offend. So why as a society are we on this kick to take something innocent and make it offensive.

Do people not realize that to someone everything we do is offensive. I am sure someone is reading this thinking to themselves I am offensive. We are going to hit a point where all we can talk about is weather. Oh, wait, can't talk about weather, global warming and all that. Dogs, nope, cats, perhaps, enough people still hate cats. Careers, nope, makes the Wal Mart workers feel bad.

Is there anything left on earth that isn't offensive?

Ya know what I find offensive, when I tell people I am part of a protected group and I am not offended. Apparently that is offensive to those that aren't even part of the group because they say I should be offended and my lack of offense offends them!

This is getting more than a little out of hand. Need more proof, how and the Disney not Disney question posted today!

By the way Letty, I am Italian and I love me a good Italian joke! Why, because they are funny and I like to be happy so why would I look for a reason to be offended and ruin the joke?

People need to lighten up, too many real problems in the world to be finding more problems.

They shouldn't be doing it, and it has nothing to do with whether there are native students or faculty. It's an outdated stereotype fueled by old movies and TV shows. It's offensive to everyone, or should be. It hardly ever is based on true cowboy garb or ethnic make-up (many were black, for example), and it usually is accompanied by Native garb that has nothing to do with tribes that were in the same states as those cowboys. Moreover, the stereotypes included natives saying "Ugh" and speaking pigeon English, and always losing to the cowboys after finding out their arrows didn't measure up against rifles.

I don't think this has anything to with conservative/moderate/liberal. I think it has to do with people who've actually been educated about the many native tribes and traditions, which vary far more widely than the stereotypical images.

Why not celebrate Black History month by having everyone dress as slaves or as black-face wearing minstrel show members? Why not celebrate Chinese New Year dressed like Hop Sing from "Bonanza" or saying "No tickey, no shirty"?

I think you should have your students write letters to your state's Commission Against Discrimination or the local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League to get some additional input. You should do a whole unit on the laws that have been put through to counteract systemic discrimination as well as the many government departments that have gotten in trouble by perpetuating these stereotypes.

There is nothing "just fun" about this. If they want to schedule a multi-cultural awareness day and have different classes or clubs really research different countries (geography, language, culture, food, dress), great. Our town's upper elementary school (grades 4-6) does this every year and it's very enlightening and done with the utmost respect and scholarship.

What you're describing is a poorly thought out version of a 1950s TV show, and it's going to reflect very poorly on the school. It's going to get a lot of negative press because someone's going to find out about it. The school administration and/or the sponsoring club is going to be in for a real fun time of making excuses and feeling embarrassed.

Having taught at a Native American school, I would say it is extremely offensive. Would you have a day where students could dress up like Black people or Asian people? Or a day when kids could dress up like Muslim people? Completely insensitive.

Since you're a government teacher, I am curious: Is this question based on a real incident at your own school, or a real one at another school, or is this more of a theoretical question, maybe one you're considering posing to your students as an exercise? Yo u mention it "came up" at your school but was that because it happened, or did kids discuss it in civics?

Anyway, I personally would find it offensive -- and totally lacking in creativity.

High schoolers are smart enough to know already that there are lots of controversies out there right now along these lines. The Washington Redskins football team is under a lot of pressure to change its antiquated and offensive name, and high schools have changed their mascots over this same issue. So if some student council or group of students chose this theme, they'd be either intentionally trying to court controversy or they'd be clueless about other cases that have been well publicized. (And I doubt any school administration would let the theme go ahead anyway unless the administrators were equally clueless.)

The idea of "Cowboys and Indians day" sounds like spirit day at some high school in the 1950s, not the 2010s. That's why I found myself wondering if this question was more of a hypothetical one to pose for discussion than a real one -- I can't see high schoolers, certainly not around where I live, even coming up with that as a theme since they don't go home and watch cowboy movies after school....If this is a real situation, why don't they find something more creative as a theme? Schools here have done spirit days around their mascots (usually animals--tigers, eagles, etc.) or themed to charitable causes (pink day for breast cancer awareness).

I think it would be inappropriate. I wouldn't be offended. I find that is a word that is used far to often and far too indiscriminately. But it wouldn't be appropriate to do what you have described. What is the point of it?

Nothing good coming from that choice. Nothing. Pick something that doesn't have baggage. It isn't that hard. Tacky Tourists was always a standby here. But then, with our proximity to Florida Beaches....

Just the term Indian seems offensive to me. That's what Columbus "named" them, the dingbat thought he was in India. Native American is more accurate.

To me the rub is in the idea that an "Indian" is a character or a mascot. It isn't like dressing as a pirate or a princess, they are indigenous people with different customs and dress. Add to that that they suffered genocide at the hands of our ancestors and it really seems insensitive.

It blows my mind that we have an NFL team called the Redskins.

I guess it should be up to the Native Americas as to be offended or not but I can't imagine some wouldn't be. Can you imagine dress like an African slave day? Why is it different?

Personally... I am not offended and I think it is all in good fun. However, also working at a school I have learned it is best to avoid anything even remotely "un-PC". This includes "hobo day"... yes, Hobo day got nixed at my school for being possibly offensive to... I don't know, homeless people, people who know homeless people, people who help the homeless, people who have ever given a dollar to a guy on the corner...

OH and my personal favorite. During Red Ribbon Week we had the theme day "drugs are for nerds" and gave out nerds candies. Nobody planning it thought anything of it, but we got some phone calls about it. Our school is near a NASA lab, and a lot of our parents work there and take pride in being real "Big Bang Theory" type nerds. Also I think it is kinda "hip to be square" right now, so some of the hipster kids who identify as nerds were jokingly taken aback. Ay ay ay it's just candy people.

So, I personally would have no issue with teens dressing up as cartoon versions of cowboys and injuns... but if I were the advisor in charge of this decision, I'd play it safe with a Sorry kids, not gonna fly.

Inappropriate. I would be shocked if our school did that. Our school had a spirit day called "Wild West Day" and my boys dressed in cowboy hats and bandanas. That seems more appropriate.

it doesn't seem like a big deal to me, but i'm not native american so i'm sure i don't get it.
i'd go along with whatever the native american students feel is okay.
i think in any of these situations it's best to listen to the POV of the demographic who's suffered discrimination.
khairete
S.

Not OK for a school to promote.

Um, totally offensive. This is 2015. There is no excuse for such cultural ignorance. I can't imagine that any school district would consider this OK.

My high school had to change their mascot name this past year.

Instead of being Capitol Hill Redskins they are having to tear up a marble floor emblem and go through the process of finding something more PC. I find it offensive that something named after our own state heritage is offensive to anyone. We live in OKLAHOMA which means RED MAN. So Redskins is part of that.

So I don't know. I don't find it offensive to have cowboys and indians but I am sure that native Americans are offended and I don't know what to do about that.