AMPLIFYING THE CALL FOR CHANGE

For more than 40 years, community leaders and activists in Indian Country, including Suzan Harjo (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee) and Amanda Blackhorse (Diné), have fought to bring light to the issue of racist mascots and the lasting impacts these stereotypical depictions have on Native youth and communities.
In 2020, America’s reckoning with systemic racism sparked important dialogue around the way racism and stereotypes shape our society and inform our policies. We amplified the call to eliminate racist sports mascots nationwide.
The nike swoosh with the caption "Just Change It"

Graphics credit: Ryan Redcorn (Osage)

BUILDING MOMENTUM

Building on the momentum created by the decades of work in Indian Country, IllumiNative joined forces with First Peoples Worldwide and Native advocates and organizations to launch the #TheTimeIsNow campaign to end the Washington Football Team’s use of a racial slur as its name. Through a coordinated effort with our partners to put pressure on the NFL and other sports franchises, we ignited a firestorm and pushed the Washington team name to the forefront of the national debate on racism.

On July 13, 2020, the Washington Football Team announced it would retire its racist name and logo.

OUR IMPACT

73 Million

social media impressions

42 Billion

earned media impressions.

131

articles & interviews in major media outlets.

$620 Billion

in assets represented in a letter signed by investor groups and foundations sent to NIKE, PepsiCo, and FedEx.

THE WORK CONTINUES

Following the success of the #TheTimeIsNow campaign, we continued to support other grassroots organizations’ and activists’ calls to eliminate other racist team names, mascots, and fan behavior, including the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta Braves, and at public schools across the country.

RESOURCES

UNPACKING THE MASCOT DEBATE EXPLAINER

In December 2019, Researchers from the University of Michigan and University of California Berkeley completed a large-scale, national empirical study of over 1,000 Native Americans on their attitudes toward Native American Mascots.

#THETIMEISNOW CAMPAIGN SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLKIT

A toolkit to support a broad diverse coalition of Native organizations and allies as we call upon athletes, politicians, like-minded organizations, and fans to stand together and proclaim that racism is racism and it will no longer be tolerated.

2020 NATIVE MASCOTS FACT SHEET

2020 brought an unprecedented moment of solidarity, and people across the country came together to take a stand against racism in any form. Banning the use of racist Native mascots, names, and imagery in national sports leagues is the next step.