Elizabeth Delacruz Racism American Style Analysis

In the 21st century, Native American culture is largely represented by mascots. Issues of isolation, education, and alcoholism continue to plague Native American reservations, but these issues are largely ignored by the general public. Instead, much of the battleground relating to Native American rights has centered on where they are most visible--sports. In “Racism American Style…,” Elizabeth Delacruz presents the problems with the mainstream portrayal of Native Americans. She uses four examples of problematic mascots to support her claim that racist imagery depicting Native Americans continues to be prevalent in American society. She then focuses on what she believes should be done about it, ending her piece by calling on art educators to emphasize historically accurate representations of Native Americans.
Delacruz begins by confessing her own shortcomings--she’s ignored the problems with Native American imagery. The text’s first

FSU took pride in its creation of the Tomahawk chop, a motion that was fictional and had little to do with Native American culture. In her examples describing Chief Illiniwek and Osceola, she mentions that both are white students. While comparing the pregame ceremonies of college football teams to minstrel shows could be seen as problematic, dressing up White men as Native Americans as they take part in elaborate pregame shows--complete with war chants--reeks of the racism of past centuries. The arguments for keeping mascots in Delacruz’ essay illustrates the ways in which the importance of sports overshadows the treatment of other humans. At the University of Illinois, school tradition was deemed more important than historical accuracy. Illini alumni disagreed with removing the mascot because of both“tradition” and “emotional attachment,” as if a dressed up college student was more important than the representation of a group of