First Amendment Language

Blog Post #4 

 The First Amendment: Sports Logos and Mascots 

In our class, we have been discussing the Six Freedoms of the First Amendment. We have also been talking about the Eight Values of Free Expression. The Free Speech Center at Middle Tennesee Univiverity says The First Amendment protects speech, religion, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government. These freedoms are made to make the people of America the "freest" in the world. The First Amendment is made for everyone. 

One story that I found relating to The First Amendment about sports, was the issue of sports logos and mascots using images or terms that may be offensive to African Americans, Native Americans, or other ethnic groups. This is typically protected by The First Amendment. 

Many sports teams have used Native American terms for their team names and mascots. As years have progressed, Native Americans have begun to view the use of these terms as disparaging, demanding that the use of these terms be abolished.  

Sports mascots that are usually deemed disrespectful to Native Americans are normally protected by The First Amendment, but the NFL and other leagues have been ridiculed because of the use of these mascots. The NFL's Washington Football Team previously named the Washington Redskins. The team dropped the term "Redskin" from its name in 2020. The team will now go by just Washington until they can find another name. 

In 1992, a member of the Cheyenne tribe, Susan Harjo, filed a complaint with the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board seeking to withdraw the Washington Redskins trademark. Harjo considered the trademark as a violation of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, the U.S. trademark law. The complaint suggested that the trademark consisted of "scandalous matter" and "disrepute". 

The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Pro Football, Inc. v. Harjo, "that lower courts should consider whether Harjo’s initial claim was barred by the equitable doctrine of laches". 

In 2014, the United States Patent and Trademark Office's canceled the Redskins trademark after petitioners showed the trademark was "disparaging" towards Native Americans, which was prohibited by the law. The Free Speech Center. 

On the right is an image of Washington's Football team's new logo.