I awaited the day before the big game in nervous apprehension. Would the Red Sox be able to rebound from a 0-2 series deficit and advance to face the Yankees? They had already won two straight games and evened the series at 2-2. The next game would be the do or die situation. I stylishly dressed in all of my Red Sox apparel (even the lucky red socks) and prepared for an invigorating game. Mike from the third floor came down to the first floor lounge to watch the big game. Being from Cleveland, Mike was sporting all of his Indians apparel. For the next the 3 hours Mike would be my most bitter enemy. Mike was the antichrist. We would swear at each other, hurl projectiles at each other, and possibly even have an outright brouhaha if things got out of control. In the bottom of the second inning, the Indians got 2 hits, which spawned an outrageous reaction from mike. He sprung from his seat, arms failing about, and began to do a mock Indian dance in front of me. "Sit your silly ass down," I probably yelled. Then he began to do the tomahawk chop to his fabulously clichéd rendition of an Indian chant, "Ohhhh oh oh oh Ohhhh oh oh oh." I looked up at Mike's hat. The Cleveland Indian logo goofily stared down at me. The mascot of the Cleveland perpetuates a stereotypical image of Native Americans as a savage being tamed by settlers. Baseball, an American institution, is guilty of disgusting racism. This blatantly racist symbol must strike an angry chord with contemporary Native Americans, whose past overflows with examples of cultural abuse. On the hat of each player, an Indian with swollen red face and stupid slaphappy grin appears in an expression of gloating jubilation. All his facial features are exaggerated, and an erect feather ... ... middle of paper ... ...? Where is the outrage? Indians do not have the kind of political representation to fight the logo. Shoved off in their secluded reservations, Indians have become artifacts, a kind of link to a past man. The preconceived notions about Indians pervade in the mind of everyone who played cowboys and Indians as a child. The logo and Indian stereotypes have become such institutionalized symbols that they are similar to apple pie. Native Americans have been bullied long enough. The national baseball ball association, those fans who do the Tomahawk chop, and you Mike are guilty of cultural racism. Applying culture relativism is difficult. Behind the smile of the seemingly harmless Cleveland Indian logo hides another example of American cultural absolutism. Are you unconsciously being a racist? Don't be fooled! And by the way Mike, who ended up winning the game?
The dispute over whether Native American mascots should be used as a team symbol dates back to the 1970’s (Price 2). People differ on the basic issue, but there is a more important underlying principle. It is called freedom. Determining whether or not someone is harmed by a practice can reveal whether that practice can or should be morally justified. Wherein lies the truth about exercising the use of American Indian mascots? The reality is that they cannot be morally justified. The certainty is not ascertainable by way of any comparison to other similar phenomena. No such comparison can be made as none exits. Then, are not the only relevant voices those of the Indians themselves? If so, the truth regarding this imagery can only be discovered by conferring with the groups that are depicted. Only those portrayed should have a voice. Or at the very least, be heard louder and more clearly than those who are not mirrored in the representations.
In Sacramento, California there are crusades to get rid of school’s with Indian team mascots. There are other offensive team mascots aside from Indian mascots as the Imperial Valley College Arabs and the Hollywood High Sheiks. (Bustillo, 1). People from California are trying to pass a bill AB 2115 that would rid public schools of any racial or ethnic groups. (Boghossian, 1). This has been a issue since the late 1960’s. The National Congress of American Indians has been trying to rid team sports from ...
In a generation focused on social justice and the elimination of prejudice from our society, there is still a use of offensive language and terminology in the area of professional sports. In “The Indian Wars” by S. L. Price, Price attempts to make the reader aware of sports teams that use derogatory terms as their team name and their mascot. He does this by highlighting football, and trying to determine whether Native-Americans are offended by team names in sports, or more specifically, the Redskins. Price’s essay is ineffective because although he raises good points, he doesn’t help the reader to form an opinion by adding historical context to the derogatory names used. He also uses inaccurate poll results to make assumptions about the feelings
There is a lot of controversy surrounding elementary, middle and high schools using Native American mascots because it gives them stereotypes of the tribe or people before they learn about them. It is felt that it would give them stereotypes of the Native American people being fierce and wild people who kill and hunt. The problem with this is that for many Indian tribes, that is the case. In the case of the Seminoles, they have an entire war named after them, and people want us to believe that they did not kill. The arguments provided by people opposed to these mascots also state that it is racist and demeaning to the tribe.
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...
On April 15th 1947, Jack Roosevelt Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie, went without a hit in a game which would have been noted only in sports almanacs were it not for the color of his skin. At Ebbet's Field that day, Robinson broke baseball's “color barrier.” The integration of Black athletes into White mainstream sports had begun. Robinson endured a variety of slanderous yells, racial epithets and even hurled objects. The fact that African Americans would be discriminated against in sports was never more apparent. Today, that same vitriol manifests itself in various forms of discrimination. Rhetorical forms of discrimination are just as damaging today as outright bigotry was then. Though rhetorical racism is not as overt, it continually influences an audience that is largely unaware of its existence.
In this paradigm, sports become not merely a game, but a symbol of the American Dream ethos. Writing in the introduction of Connie Mack’s autobiography, My 66 Years in the Big Leagues (1950), historian Francis Tevelyan Miller articulates the symbolic significance of baseball, which he believes to be, “democracy in action; in it all men are ‘free and equal,’ regardless of race, nationality, or creed. Every man is given the rightful opportunity to rise to the top on his own merits … It is the fullest expression of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly in our national life.” (qtd. in Orodenker 18) The democracy of sports was unwelcoming to women and people of color, and that is reflected in a sports literature that has been written almost exclusively by white
Everyone loves to think about Indians in a stereotypical way or assume that they are all crazy worshippers of land or rocks. Everyone thinks they are all the same. They probably can’t even name a legit tribe. The Indians lost their home to the settlers, and many people never think about it how strong these Indians actually are. In fact, an Indian tribe called the Seminoles are very strong. Settled in Florida as far back as 10,000 B.C (“Seminole Indians”). Being indigenous to Florida (“Seminole Indians”) the Seminoles stay grounded as the European settlers later took interest in Florida as the they kill the Seminoles; “many Seminole Indians were kidnapped, tortured, or killed. But the Seminoles held their own ground and
Schools' and sports teams' mascots such as Warriors, Braves, and Indians, are okay, but Redskins is racist. When Native Americans are chosen as a mascot, it is not intentionally meant to be derogatory. In fact, it is actually chosen as a strong, courageous symbol that is admired. 81-83% of Native Americans who were asked said they don't believe that they should stop being used as mascots, as stated in an article titled "Most Native American-Themed Sports Mascots Are Flattering and Not Racist".
Privilege is thinking something is not a problem because it’s not a problem to someone personally. It’s difficult to see a situation for what it is when it’s not specifically affecting a person. In the article “Indian mascots — you’re out,” author Jack Shakely discusses that the cultural appropriation of Native American mascots in college and professional sports teams is treated like a minuscule matter, but removing the mascots would be “the right thing to do.” Shakely expounds his first experience of conflict with his background and supporting the Cleveland Indians. The article is an opinion piece from Los Angeles Times, published on August 25, 2011. Although it isn’t recent, it’s indubitably timely. The appropriation of Native American culture
For instance, a Native American mascot with a feather atop of his head. In many Native cultures eagle feathers are considered to be very scared and are to be worn by those who have earned them in a spiritual way. Ceremonies and traditions such as these can cause shame and show a lack of respect towards the Native Americans, when their traditions are taken out of context and background knowledge. Keeping Native Americans as mascots, logos, etc is a problematic issue that needs to be fixed. Using Native American pictures and names in sports has been a topic of controversy in the United States since the 1960’s. Another reason as to why all sports that use Native Americans as their mascots, team logo, etc should be banned is an American sociological association banned the use of the Native American logos, mascots and nicknames in sports because it harms Native American people in educational and social ways. When such cultural abuse is supported, it causes harm to Native American children and tells society and the Non-Native American
Putting Indians on a helmet shows how America “owns” them. “Not only do Indians have to deal with the fallout of being ‘conquered’ people...the shame of being men who descended from those unable to protect our women...the shame of being women who descended from those raped and tortured…” but they also have to deal with being reminded of the events that happened in the past. Constantly being reminded of these events is disrespectful and torture. In the past, the Indians were helpless against the pilgrims and were unable to do anything to protect their people. Since the name of the mascot is broadcasted visually, Redskins just reminds them that they were owned and still remain to be. Just like corporate America copyrighting their inventions, in Dan Snyder’s position in his letter to the Washington Redskins fans, he continues to want to “own” the name Redskins. Snyder’s action of keeping the team name shows his power of “sustain[ing] long term success if this franchise.” American Indians are being disrespected in this manner by being seen as a franchise instead of a group of people. Especially since such a big issue like this is just for a sports game, it is demeaning for American Indian’s
Historical and sociological research has shown, through much evidence collection and analysis of primary documents that the American sporting industry can give an accurate reflection, to a certain extent, of racial struggles and discrimination into the larger context of American society. To understand this stance, a deep look into aspects of sport beyond simply playing the game must be a primary focus. Since the integration of baseball, followed shortly after by American football, why are the numbers of African American owners, coaches and managers so very low? What accounts for the absence of African American candidates from seeking front office and managerial roles? Is a conscious decision made by established members of each organization or is this matter a deeper reflection on society? Why does a certain image and persona exist amongst many African American athletes? Sports historians often take a look at sports and make a comparison to society. Beginning in the early 1980’s, historians began looking at the integration of baseball and how it preceded the civil rights movement. The common conclusion was that integration in baseball and other sports was indeed a reflection on American society. As African Americans began to play in sports, a short time later, Jim Crow laws and segregation formally came to an end in the south. Does racism and discrimination end with the elimination of Jim Crow and the onset of the civil rights movement and other instances of race awareness and equality? According to many modern sports historians and sociologists, they do not. This paper will focus on the writings of selected historians and sociologists who examine th...
The next reason we’ll be looking at are the stereotypical images commonly seen in literature and mascots. Mainstream media such as “Dances with Wolves”, “The Lone Ranger”, and “The Last of The Mohicans” and mascots in professional sports teams like Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago Blackhawks all include representations of Native Americans that for some, are offensive. With this in mind, ...
Dealing with the issue of sport and ethnology, three major factors come to mind; prejudice, racism, and discrimination. These factors span across gender, ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss how these factors have played a part in the evolution of sport in our society. The first issue tackled in this paper will be racism in sports, followed by prejudice and discrimination.