Operation Overreach
With Native American mascot ban, downstate lawmakers once again stretch the boundaries of state government
It’s been a busy winter and early spring in Springfield. Members of the state legislature have until the end of May to propose bills, get them passed through committees, and voted on in the House and Senate.
There are pieces of legislation that matter—crime, health care, job creation—and things that don’t. With every session, the Illinois General Assembly performs a master class on the things that don’t matter.
The latest: HB 1237, legislation that takes aim at K-12 schools and would ban the use of names, logos or imagery labeled as Native American. The bill has passed the state House by a wide margin (71-40) and goes to the Senate. According to language in the bill, there’s a three-to-five-year phase-out process to financially assist school districts impacted by the change, as there are costs associated with changing a mascot or logo painted inside a gymnasium, over school walls, or printed on uniforms and other property or merchandise.
When this type of lawmaking takes place, there’s another cost, much more expensive than money. That’s our collective intelligence.
Once again, the “we know better than you” crowd is creeping into our everyday lives; their curriculum grounded in victimization, not education.
By the time a student reaches early elementary school, they have at least a tertiary understanding of American history. Kids know that the land where they live and play was there for a long time before they were. And before settlers arrived from Europe, the same land was occupied by other people who did not look the same as we do.
But I don’t know if state lawmakers believe this. Or maybe they don’t trust our interpretation—yikes!—of the facts. Now we’re getting somewhere.
Illinois happens to be a state rich in Native American history. The state name itself came from an Indian tribe! Areas around the state long-time residents are likely familiar with—Pontiac, Winnebago, Hononegah, and others—all can be traced to Indian heritage.
Now, according to the identity police in Springfield, those towns and high schools are associated with “offensive” mascots and must adapt or else be labeled anti-Native American.
Progressive politicians like to use the words “welcoming” or “safety” when justifying overreach. What they are really doing is ginning up shame and humiliation, the only currency with which they know how to transact legislative business.
Bill sponsor Maurice West (D-Rockford) said this about the Native American ban:
“Schools should foster empathy, understanding, and inclusion. Using offensive, discriminatory, or stereotypical Native American mascots is outdated and harmful. I’m proud of the collaborative work we have done in recent years with the Native American community and local school districts to create legislation that is both respectful and fiscally responsible.”
The part about “empathy, understanding, and inclusion” is pulled straight out of the Identitarian Politicians Handbook. The sections about “outdated and harmful” and “respectful” speak to their arrogance. The “fiscally responsible” part reveals their incompetence when governing ideology-driven ideas and their burdensome applications.
Assuming the bill gets through the Senate, the phase-in process makes a DOGE initiative fit onto a 3x5 index card. Deadlines for redrawing logos or renaming mascots range from dates in 2026, 2028, and 2030. Oh, and schools can petition tribes to get a waiver. So you’re saying we can get permission from the group that you say is offended to use the same mascot name for the same law that you are changing for being harmful? What a well-thought-out concession!
This is how lawmakers in blue states like Illinois operate: they claim a marginalized group is “victimized” without any real evidence or testimony from said group, attempt to change laws to end said victimization without having figured out how to pay for it, say they are being “fiscally responsible,” but by creating so many loopholes and clauses, they ratchet up the costs of enacting said legislation, and we get very expensive, unnecessary new laws or amendments to old laws. Sound familiar?
A much more productive use of funds would be in schooling initiatives to help bring about a deeper understanding of Indian history within districts across the state. I didn’t read any comment about education amongst the lawmakers in charge of promoting this enlightened piece of legislation. All I read were their claims of discrimination. Where is evidence of the “many” conversations West said he had with Native American communities that helped form his worldview?
West is like the rest of the identity grifters, leading with feelings and defeatism rather than education and pragmatism.
Bill Hauter, a Republican congressman from Morton, IL (outside of Peoria), highlights the divide between sensible decision-making and the modus operandi of the ruling class in Springfield:
“The momentum of legislation in this body has been whatever Chicago decides. That's what happens, and I'm really opposed to that. Let's have more local control. We know the people we represent. We know our area, and so let us represent our people, our constituents, and don't come from Chicago and say we know how things should operate.”
What Hauter is saying is if a school district in Hononegah or Winnebago or Freeburg wants to change its mascot or prohibit Native American imagery, they should be able to do so without permission from state governance. Hauter makes the most rational argument that local control is how issues like this one should be adjudicated—amongst those most invested.
Instead, we get hacks like West giving disingenuous statements about “outdated” uniforms and warning of “unintended consequences,” another common phrase-without-meaning used by the monarchial class.
We have a supermajority stacked in favor of one party in Springfield. That creates an atmosphere where the ideological whims of elected politicians are bereft of compromise. And what we get as a result are silly laws like HB 1237 that have no real impact on anyone’s daily life.
One assemblyman said it best after HB 1237 passed through the House: “This bill doesn’t carry a penalty if a school ignores it. That tells you right there that it’s more about political spin than actual change,” John Cabello (R-Machesny Park) told MyStateLine. “If we’re going to talk about this issue seriously, then let’s have a conversation based in reality—not political performance.”
“Reality” in Illinois politics?
May I suggest an Indian mascot: Chief Fantasyland.
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I worked at Hononegah for 9 years and taught in that district for 14. Every time this issue would raise its head, the community would roll their collective eyes and go back to business as usual.
There are some in Lake Forest who want to eliminate the Scouts, and I worry this bill will give them the means to do it. Fifteen years ago, a freshman shouted into the Booster store I was opening, calling us racists because of our mascot. I followed her, hoping to explain that the entire North Shore was once marshland inhabited by Native American tribes—and that our mascot was meant to honor that history. Her smug indifference showed she didn’t care. But she was just a teenager. The lawmakers behind this bill have no such excuse.