On Sunday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that will officially ban public schools and athletic teams from using the word “Redskins” as a team or mascot name. The move is a lovely gesture, just in time for Columbus Day—a holiday that traditionally celebrates the slaughter of Native Americans—and it shows actual progress in the way the U.S. regards indigenous populations, even if that progress is decades past due.
The law will go into effect on January 1, 2017, and will only affect four schools that use the mascot (as well as any that might feel the impulse to make their mascot more racist than it already is). The measure will also allow schools a grace period in which schools may still use old uniforms and gear to lessen the cost of transitioning.
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