According to Merriam Webster, a mascot is “a person, animal, or object adopted by a group as a symbolic figure especially to bring them good luck.” Big Jay is one of the mascots of The University of Kansas, but he’s more than just a mascot. He represents a mythical bird, the entire University, and has impacted many people. Because of this, Big Jay should be nominated into the Mascot Hall of Fame. Big Jay is memorable because the Jayhawk is a mythical bird with a meaning behind it. According to Kansas University’s website, “The name combines two birds--the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob other nests and the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter. The message here: Don't turn your back on this bird.” Big Jay combines the two birds to create a mascot that is memorable because people usually remember the mascots that have a meaning behind them. The bird is also very unique because it combines two birds instead of using an already existing animal. Usually people remember the mascots that are fun, memorable, and unique.
Big Jay has had a major impact on basketball. Not many mascots have shown an impact on their sport. For example, the Jayhawk has been the mascot of KU since 1907, and the NCAA started in 1906. That means that the mascot was one of the first formed in the NCAA. He has inspired other mascots because he is one of the 4 bird
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Big Jay played an important role when he visited Children’s Mercy Hospital. As a general rule, helping out with the community involves helping kids too. On March 10, 2017, Big Jay took a trip to visit their young fans. The kids were filled with excitement and joy, as they watched Big Jay enter the room. According to Children’s Mercy, a child exclaimed, “It at least makes me feel a lot better that I still get to see part of the game.” This shows that Big Jay made a major impact in these kids lives, therefore, greatly affecting community we live in
Teams in every sport, at every level of competition, have a mascot. It is the mascot that represents the competitive spirit and team identity, motivating players and fans alike. Does the symbol chosen have any impact on whether a team wins or loses? Unlikely. But the choice of a Native American mascot continues to ignite debate and controversy among athletes, fans and alumni, as well as those people who might otherwise be disinterested in sports. Utilizing an Indian mascot is nothing more than a veiled attempt at hate speech.
Aside from professional sports teams having offensive names, high school and college teams also have offensive names. In Greenly, Colorado at the University of Northern Colorado, their mascot is the Fightin’ Reds. Of course, this name sounds very racists, depicting Native Americans in a very harsh manner. Students on the basketball team renamed their team, The Fightin’ Whites. They were trying to depict the 1950’s style of the average American male. Their slogan for their team is “Every thang’s going to be all white.” By making this new mascot and new slogan, the basketball team was trying to get their city council to talk about the insensitive team mascots that their school, along with thousands of other schools have. In Eaton, Colorado the people who live there are amazed by all the madness that is going on about the school’s mascot. They are perfectly happy with the mascot, and to them it seems like it would be breaking tradition if someone were to change their mascot. Even though there are many people who hate the school’s mascot and vote for it to be changed, there are also some people who love it and do not want to be changed. Some people think it is a honor for a school’s mascot to be named after their culture. But the number of people for the mascots do not even compare to the number of people opposed to the mascots. (Cart, A12)
Mascots are beloved figure heads for sports teams everywhere almost every sport team has a mascot of some kind; that said, sometimes instead of bring people together it can cause a rift between two cultures. Such as Washington’s D.C.’s football team the “Redskins” often the word redskin was a derogatory word used against the Native Americans and while it may seem as though paying homage to the Native American community the overall stereotyped actions of the fans themselves as well as the sugarcoating of the previously racial slur has done little to bring the two cultures together and instead created a larger disconnect between white and Native American. The name Redskin should be retired and replaced so that rather
The University of Mississippi’s mascot was the Colonel Reb, named and dressed after old plantation owners of the south during the Civil War. The university used several symbols that were meant to represent heritage, but are now considered racial towards African Americans. The use of these racial symbols caused and is still causing a huge controversy between the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the African American athletes and fans of the university. According to an article written in The New York Times Robbie Brown
David Ortiz has saved the lives of hundreds of children by giving them medical care they would not otherwise have access to through his charity, the David Ortiz Children’s Fund. In February of 2005, he visited CEDIMAT hospital in the Dominican Republic, where he saw children suffering after they had heart surgery. He instantly donated two hundred thousand dollars to the hospital. Ortiz started his charity because he wants to give children everywhere the opportunity to live long, happy lives (DavidOrtiz.com). He makes sure that kids who need urgent care receive it as soon as possible. In the first year alone, sixty kids were given open-heart surgery (DavidOrtiz.com). With his aid, kids who cannot afford or do not have access t...
...ers' evolution from mother and student into a leading voice against the merchandising of Native American sacred symbols -- and shows the lengths to which fans will go to preserve their mascots." In keeping all the Native American Mascots in schools, colleges, and professional sports teams we are showing a lack of respect. The Native Americans have voiced the lack of honor these names are bringing to them. "The fact that history has ignored the incredible pain we have inflicted on Native Americans does not now give us the right to ignore their largely muted call." Americans need to take a step back think about how they would feel if there ritual and or sacred tradition was misused. "We feel that we are being put in a position of sacrificing our dignity and pride and will never be treated as equals in white society as long as the use of Indian symbols continues."
Some people think the mascots are offensive because they use derogatory terms, but some people think they’re okay because it’s a celebration of diversity. Here’s some reasons why people say yes to the mascots. Going back to what I said about the Washington Redskins, Redskins is a derogatory term towards the Native Americans, like how the N-word is towards African Americans. Studies show that it can create a hostile learning environment in schools. Some believe that if the mascot offends even one person, that we should all listen.
Duke basketball dates back to when they were Trinity College, the name was later changed in 1923 to Duke University. Trinity never was as high-quality of a team as Duke has been in the last 20 years. Trinity won 48 games in the 65 years of their existence. In Dukes early years the basketball program did not triumph as in recent years. At the time the power sport at Duke was football. In 1949 a change came when a young man named Dick Groat came around, he became the star of the Blue Devil basketball and baseball team. Groat wasn?t recruited to play basketball he was on an athletic scholarship for baseball. None the less, he was elected as an All- American in 1951 and 1952 for his basketball talents. Unfortunately, he was never able to lead either of his teams to a championship. His basketball number (10) was retired, and now hangs on the ceiling of Cameron Indoor Stadium.
In all sports, teams use mascots to represent their team’s pride, strength, and will to win. The role the mascot plays is an intimidation factor, as well as something to motivate the team. Teams will have mascots that range from anything, from an animal to an inanimate object, like a hammer or an orange. Mascots rarely fall under scrutiny, except for the mascots that represent Native American tribes, people or cultures. Many schools and teams use some sort of Native American reference as a mascot. The Native American mascots used range from names like the Indians, Chiefs, and Braves, which are some of the more generic ones, to Seminoles, Fighting Illini, and Chippewas to name some of the tribal based names.
The Children’s Miracle Network is a non-profit organization that provides charitable funds to 170 children’s hospitals in the United States and Canada. Nearly 500 corporations participate in fundraisers and campaigns that provide hospitals with equipment, research, and care to children who suffer from injuries and illnesses. To date, Children’s Miracle Network has raised more than 4.7 billion dollars, and what’s unique about this organization is that every penny stays within the network (CMN, n.d.). Children’s Miracle Network has been extremely successful over the last thirty one years due to the relationships that they have built with corporations, the extreme media coverage that they obtain, and the lives and stories of those associated with CMN that have influenced communities to make a difference one dollar at a time.
Issue of whether to keep Mascots in schools or not, started in late 1970’s and from then this debate is going on. Most of the schools have Indian Mascots in place for half a century and suddenly it become problem to use Indian Mascots. Over 500 Native American organizations also announced their support for the removal of those mascots and over 1200 schools across the United States have changed the name of their sports teams and some school refused to play with those schools using Indian mascots. But some school still think that using mascots are just paying homage to the Native peoples and it’s just another group claiming to be offended. Sports teams used those mascots to promote their team’s athletic powers, like wolf, lion and eagle etc. How portrait of an Indain wearing hat with feather or headdress can be offensive or racist? One thing which never be done up to now that is to view our history from Native eyes. First of all, learn about their culture and their living style from their new perspective not the one which is given in our history books. From last hundred years we taught our generations that this is our country and we had a very long war with Indians which won. We also tell different kind of stories like burning of Fort Pequot Indians because they had trade relationship with British company. Can stories like this possibly be related to mascot issue? Using mascots are really a problem or just a political incorrectness.
Teters, Charlene. “American Indians are People, not Mascots.” American Indian Movement . Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Times have changed - what was acceptable 30 years ago may not hold up in today’s world. Racially offensive mascots have created division - not unity. If teams like the Indians, Braves and Redskins were to change their names and update their branding, they could potentially benefit more than by holding on to offensive, outdated traditions. Why would a professional sports organization settle for fewer fans, less revenue, and an image that offends its own citizens? By...
Many races are unjustly victimized, but Native American cultures are more misunderstood and degraded than any other race. College and high school mascots sometimes depict images of Native Americans and have names loosely based on Native American descent, but these are often not based on actual Native American history, so instead of honoring Native Americans, they are being ridiculed. According to the article Warriors Survive Attack, by Cathy Murillo (2009) some “members of the Carpentaria community defended Native American mascot icons as honoring Chumash tradition and the spirit of American Indian Warriors in U.S. history and others claimed that the images were racist stereotypes” (Murillo, 2009). If people do not attempt to understand and respect Native American culture, then Native American stereotypes will become irreparable, discrimination will remain unresolved, and ethnocentrism will not be reprimanded.
For example, The Dartmouth Big Green were once called the Indians; Oklahoma removed Little Red; Marquette Warriors changed to the Golden Eagles; even the prestigious school of Stanford was once called the Indians. However, most schools or sports teams have accommodated by not removing or not showing their mascots, but for these teams to remove the names is taking away the history of the team, and in some ways probably bring positive spotlight to the Native American culture. These teams do not want to choose a name or mascot that a lot of people do not like or look down upon. They choose names that have a rich history, and they can carry on the tradition. This is why some sports teams have no problems with keeping their sports names without any