Football: Disrespectful To Native American Culture

Problem Based Learning

My family has always loved football. Watching it is like a high, one that is magnified by the crispness of stadium lights on manicured fields, the smell of concession-stand nachos, the roar that rolls through the crowd when the team scores. I would say that football is our addiction, but an addiction connotes something bad. And to us, football is the complete opposite of that; it’s close to holy. Yet, for all the years my family has lived in Texas, we have never once tuned in to a Texans game or cheered for the Cowboys. No, instead we root for the Washington Redskins. Although geographically they are 1500 miles away, they’re never far from our hearts. Cheesy, I know, but the Redskins have really become a part of our family

The most obvious example of this is the name itself, Redskins. Although this word has innocent origins, it has evolved to become a symbol of prejudice and oppression. According to Robert “Two Eagles” Green in an article by Chris Ligenbach,”the term Redskins came from the Indians. And they referred to themselves often times, in treaty negotiations and meetings with the early settlers, as Redskins.” However, over time, “redskins” was used to demean Native American culture. In books, music, and art, people used the term to portray these people as savage. Songs sang about the victory of white settlers over the wild Indians, and praised the cowboys who had the most Indian scalps on their belts. For centuries, we mocked the American Indians, making them the butt of every joke, the idiot of every story. This habit was a hard one to break, and even though these practices have mostly gone away in previous years, vestiges of them still remain, especially in our sports community. If our country values tolerance and diversity as much as it says it does, why does it still allow such blatant symbols of racial prejudice to exist? What type of image does this send to the rest of America? The longer we allow degrading terms to be promoted on such a high scale, the more we undermine the very values our nation stands for. Some advocate for a name change because of their moral beliefs, but have yet to consider how

Michael Freedman, a clinical psychologist, conducted study on the self-esteem Native American youths. The results showed that when these kids are shown images of stereotypical Native American mascots, their “self-esteem goes down, belief in community goes down, belief in achievement goes down, and mood goes down” (Can A Mascot Really Cause Psychological Harm?). This is especially alarming, since according to the same source the most common cause of death among young Native Americans is suicide. When kids see their culture being appropriated, even mocked, at school or on television, their view of their community shifts. They become embarrassed, ashamed, even disgusted by where they are from. The effects of the mascot is reaches far more than just the confidence of teenagers. According to an article entitled “Can A Mascot Really Cause Psychological Harm?” the data from another study shows that “there is a disconnect between how people think about these issues consciously and unconsciously.” By this, it means that while you may think you believe that you are being respectful towards Native American culture and paying them tribute through the mascot, but your subconscious view of that culture is being negatively affected as you see more and more of the stereotypical symbols. The Redskins mascot is all over America. As a member of the