Adidas is paying schools to drop racist Native American mascots

'Sports have the power to change lives'

People march to protest against the Washington NFL team in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Hannah Foslien/Getty)

Adidas is making a major push to end racist uniforms throughout Americas sports teams.

The German athletic apparel maker announced the initiative on Thursday offering design resources and financial assistance for any schools that want to change their logo from offensive Native American imagery.

"Sports have the power to change lives," Adidas Group executive board member Eric Liedtke said during the White House Tribal Nations Conference, where 567 federally recognised native tribes gathered in Washington.

"Sports give young people limitless potential. Young athletes have hope, they have desire and they have a will to win. Importantly, sports must be inclusive," he said. "Today we are harnessing the influence of sports in our culture to lead change for our communities. adidas is proud to provide a pathway for high schools and communities who want to create new identities."

President Barack Obama was in attendance and he applauded the Adidas Group for their initiative.

"[Adidas has] really come up with a smart creative approach which is to say, all right, if we can’t get states to pass laws to prohibit these mascots, then how can we incentivise schools to get rid of them? And so what Adidas has done is it’s said to the 2,000-plus schools that still have Native American, Alaska Native mascots, ‘You know what, we will work with you to redesign your entire sports brand.’”

“If you walk into a school the first day and you’re already feeling that stereotypes are embedded in the culture and the cheers and all that, right away that kid is feeling set apart and different.”

He then addressed the Washington NFL team: “I don’t know if it’s made the same offer to a certain NFL team here in Washington. But they might want to think about that as well.”

The company also said it will be a founding member of a coalition that addresses Native American mascots in sports.

Jackie Pata and Ray Halbritter, leaders of the Change the Mascot advocacy group, applaused Addidas in a written statement on Thursday.

"This remarkable stand against racism by Adidas illustrates that the issue of ending the use of the R-word is not going away, but is instead gaining momentum as people understand the damaging impacts of this racial slur."

Brayden White and Tatiana Ticknor speak with Barack Obama speaks in Washington. Evan Vucci/Getty (Evan Vucci/Getty)

Some advocacy groups estimate that 2,000 schools in the states use Native Americans as mascots.

The Washington NFL team issued a response shortly after the news broke.

“The hypocrisy of changing names at the high school level of play and continuing to profit off of professional like-named teams is absurd. Adidas make hundreds of millions of dollars selling uniforms to teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and the Golden State Warriors, while profiting off sales of fan apparel for the Cleveland Indians, Florida State Seminoles, Atlanta Braves and many other like-named teams.”