Bob CollinsMemo: If you’re a leader in the fight against cultural appropriation, you might not want to go with blackface on Halloween.
San Carlos Apache chairman Terry Rambler says he’s sorry for his choice of a costume for Halloween, the BBC reports.
Rambler is one of the leaders of the #NotYourMascot movement, which is pressuring institutions to drop Native American mascots and nicknames.
The Reverend Jarrett Maupin, a civil rights campaigner and active member of the Black Lives Matter movement – which is also active online and has shown solidarity with Not Your Mascot – told BBC Trending: “We are very upset about it. This is a man who has derided sports organisations who have done the very same thing. It’s hard for me to accept that he didn’t know what he was doing or the message he has conveying.”
Mr Maupin, also from Arizona, has worked alongside tribal leaders, including Rambler, on issues of discrimination and called Rambler’s decision to put on ‘blackface’ a “betrayal” and “a huge statement considering he’s the leader of a sovereign nation.” He says he wants Rambler to step down.
Rambler apologized on his Facebook page, saying in hindsight, it was a bad idea.
