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Stereotypes of native people
Stereotypes of native people
Examples of racial prejudice
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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. According to Richard T. Schaefer, (2012) the author of Sociology: Thirteenth Edition, stereotypes are “false images or unreliable generalizations about all members of a group that do not recognize individual differences within the group” (Schaefer, 2012). Some stereotypes that I have heard are; that Indian is another proper name for Native American, and Native Americans are all alike, worship nature, and smoke a peace pipe. Of course, I know this is untrue, but books and movies often do not focus on actual Native American tribes, so people remain naïve about past and current Native American cultural facts. For example, the article North Dakota lawmakers vote to keep “Fighting Sioux” (2011) claims “at the Florida State University a mascot dressed in an Indian headdress rides horseback at football games and fans wave their... ... middle of paper ... ...t a name they use to represent their school or sports team. As Orvetti, (2011) claims “The team isn’t racist, the players aren’t racist, the fans aren’t racist. So why not a change” (Orvetti, 2011)? Bibliography Murillo, C. (2009). Warriors Survive Attack. Retrieved Mar. 17, 2012, from http://www.independent.com/news/2009/mar/18/warriors-survive-attack/ (2011). North Dakota lawmakers vote to keep “Fighting Sioux“. Retrieved Mar. 17, 2012, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/us-northdakota-sioux-idUSTRE72B0QD20110312 Orvetti, P. (2011). Do the Redskins Need a New Name? Retrieved Mar. 17, 2012, from http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/sports/Do-the-Redskins-Need-a-New-Name-115254879.html Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and ethnic inequality. Sociology: a brief introduction (13th ed., pp. 236-262). New York: McGraw-Hill.
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.
The author Justin Angle says how in a study the mascots and names were shown to people unfamiliar with Native American culture and the sport teams, in the end of the study most of the participants viewed Native American’s as “war like”, which can carry negative consequences in the real world affecting the views of some future employers, creating a view that though Native American’s can be seen as strong and bold they can also have been perceived as violent and irrational. The uses of Redskins also create the belief that it is culturally appropriate for the constant use of Native American culture this has led to thousands of schools and sports teams to have questionable mascots and names. Such as the Savages from Salmon High school and the baseball team the “Indians” whose mascot was a hooked nose red skinned Indian with bucked teeth. Comparing this to the now frowned upon depiction of African American as black red lipped stereotyped popular in the 1920s advertisements does it not show similarities in a cultures becoming a caricature. While one is view as racist the other is view and honorable due to it representing one of the greatest passtimes in America,
Cultural stereotypes have always existed and while they may have been acceptable to society in the past, that does not compel us to accept them in today’s society. One such stereotype which is used is that of Native American names and imagery for sports teams and in particular The Washington Redskins of the National Football league. While for many people, this is an argument that has just recently arisen, in actuality, the debate over the use of native names and images has been an ongoing issue for over 50 years. The subject of the Washington Redskins name has been debated across politics, media, academia, religious backgrounds and in the public square for many years.
Native Americans are trying to take that next step. For the past 100 years Americans have stolen their sacred names and used them for mascots of high school, college, and professional sports teams. The National Education Association is one of the first to step to the plate by passing, Article I-41, which advises use of Prejudicial Terms and Symbols "The National Education Association deplores prejudice based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, size, marital status, or economic status and rejects the use of names, symbols, caricatures, emblems, logos, and mascots that promote such prejudice. (92,94)" By having these practices they believe the rights of Native Americans are protected. Native American Mascots in sports need to change to protect and uphold the rights that are granted to them from the constitution.
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.
Throughout the history of American literature, the Native American is rarely presented as a fully developed character; instead, he is degraded to a mere caricature, one deeply rooted in traditional racial prejudices. In his novel, The Pioneers, James Fennimore Cooper became the one of the first American authors to depict an Indian as a leading character; in fact, Cooper's depiction of the infamous Chinkachgook is widely considered to be the original archetypical basis for Native American figures as seen in American literature. However, Cooper's characterization of Chinkachgook, known by a variety of names, including John Mohegan and Indian John, is based solely on the white perspective, and as a result, is a highly unrealistic and historically inaccurate stereotype. Moreover, Cooper clearly romanticizes the character of John Mohegan, presenting him as a noble savage, but in doing so, Cooper both demonizes and sentimentalizes Native Americans as a people.
The stereotype of Native Americans has been concocted by long history. As any stereotype constructed by physical appearance, the early Europeans settlers were no different and utilized this method. Strangers to the New World, they realized the land was not uninhabited. The Native Americans were a strange people that didn't dress like them, didn't speak like them, and didn't believe like them. So they scribed what they observed. They observed a primitive people with an unorthodox religion and way of life. These observations made the transatlantic waves. Not knowingly, the early settlers had transmitted the earliest cases of stereotyped Native Americans to the masses. This perpetuated t...
“Countless native people cannot obtain loans from banks or live where they want to due to the negative stereotypes these mascots encourage "said Lawrence Baca, from the Pawnee tribe. Professional sport teams, colleges and high schools depict Native Americans base on their culture loosely. Not only this controversy is offensive, but it is harmful to the Native Americans’ integrity. Instead of honoring the Native Americans, they are being ridicule with discrimination and stereotypes. Mascots are there to represent a team’s identity and competitive spirit, not to mock a culture. The use of Native Americans mascot does not symbolize their culture heroically, but it taunts their heritage in a racist manner. Exploiting the Native American culture should not be use to portray a sport team, using their culture mascot represents a false perception about the culture, damage their virtue and causes racial discrimination.
For Americans moving west in the 1820's and 30's there was little firsthand knowledge of what the frontier would be like when they arrived. There was a lot of presumption about the Indians. Many felt, through the stories they heard and read, that they had sufficient information to know what the Indians would truly be like and how to respond to them. Unfortunately, as is described in James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, white settlers stereotyped the Native Americans as savage, heartless beasts.
Schaefer, R. (Ed.). (2012). Racial and ethnic groups. (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
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
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, ...
At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate.
“Stereotypes unreliable, exaggerated generalizations about all members of a group that do not take individual differences into account” (Schaefer 40). Stereotypes can be positive, but are usually associated with negative beliefs or actions such as racial profiling.
Good afternoon Sophia, how are you? I really enjoyed your post, and the important points that you made. I found Ed's story to be very inspirational because despite of all the things that he went through; he still went on to be successful. I also know that it must've been hard for Ed to not be affiliated with his heritage while growing up due to the negative stereotypes that Native Americans received. The negative stereotypes that are placed on Native Americans are alcoholics, criminals, violent, and etc. Ed also stated in the video that when dealing with being discriminated against due to his skin complexion, he grew up with self esteem issues and guilt. As person of color myself, I know that dealing with any type of racism or discrimination