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Skin In The Game: Providing Redress For American Sports' Appropriation Of Native American Iconography, Geraud Blanks

Theses and Dissertations

To date, legal efforts to eradicate the use of Native American iconography in American sports have focused on the concept of Indian nicknames as disparaging terms and Indian mascots as harmful images. But subjective claims of harm are hard to prove and are often thwarted by First Amendment protections because judges remain reluctant to regulate expressive and commercial freedom of speech based on offense. And while a 2014 ruling by the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board cancelling six of the Washington Redskins’ trademark registrations was a landmark moment for name-change advocates, the decision could …