Mascots and team names are stereotypical or offensive. These are all teams that have stereotypes. If a team name, mascot, or insignia is offensive, then just change it; it is just a sports team. Even if a team changes it, it is not like every jock, or sports fan is not going to know theyour new name, mascot, or insignia. Using Native American images and names in professional, collegiate, and high school sports teams do reinforce and perpetuate stereotypes because the mascots and team names give stereotypical features.
“Redskin” is an extremely derogatory term used to describe the reputed color of a Native American 's skin tone. Along with the simply disrespectful terminology, the phrase has a history of being used alongside bounty for the scalping of Native Americans, so it is without a doubt offensive to many people. Washington 's choice to continue using the word as a name for their popular sports team has been the cause of much controversy. Despite the pleas of millions of people, advocacy groups and even government officials to change the name, the sports team remains unchanged. Even the United States Patent and Trademark Office has refused the renewal of their name, logo and likeness, citing the combination as “disparaging to Native Americans" National public opinion polls have found that 60 to 83 percent of the general public supports the teams ' decision to continue using the name, yet only a small majority of fans think the term is offensive to Native
Is using Native Americans as mascots for sports teams offensive? It does not matter if it is a high school or a college, sometimes even the NFL. Examples of sports teams that use Native Americans images are Washington Redskins, Florida State Seminoles, and a high school Cherokee Braves. It is not offending and there should not be any problem because it is not making fun of anybody. Using Native American images and names in professional, collegiate, and high schools sport teams does not reinforce and perpetuate stereotypes because it symbolizes their culture, shows that they are ready to play, and appreciates their coexistence.
Many claims toward this idea of "racism" are due to NFL and college team names such as the Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Florida State Seminoles are just a few. However, the underlying truth is that teams with names like these are meant to honor and represent the pride and strength these tribes have had throughout their history. "We Seminoles embrace the mascot... they honor us", says James Billie, the tribes chairman. When he claims this statement, he is referring to their mascots having more than the appearance of calling out a specific race but to recognize the ones who deserve the merit (source C).
The Indian mascot was originally designed to render tribute to Native Americans, not as a racial symbol. In the past forty years, changing the name backfired, and citizens began taking offense to the name because they felt like the name represented the color of Native American’s skin. Nevertheless, many fans, including Native Americans, do not consider the name or the mascot to be degrading or racial. Fans of the Washington Redskins participated in a poll that reveals, “77 percent reject changing the name” while in another poll “71 percent of NFL fans did not find the Redskins name offensive” (Lingebach 2). Clearly, from the results of the two polls, many fans would be unhappy if the Redskins’ name were to be changed. Also, if any professional sport teams were forced to change their names, it would have a huge negative impact on commercial products. Lingebach addresses in his article how “in another sign of support, the majority of Washington, DC fans would not purchase new team merchandise if the Redskins changed their name” (qtd. in Lingebach 2). If Native Americans and most of the National Football League fans infer that the name is not derogatory, the Redskins should not have to change their name. The Kansas City Chiefs have been lucky enough not to face the same issues as the Washington
A historical great piece of literary art, “A Worn Path” published in 1941, is a story of an old woman’s journey to town through the forest. The setting is rural Mississippi in the 1940’s, a time when racism was a way of life and a trip to town, especially for an old black woman, was often a long journey and thus a trip not often taken. The old woman’s name is Phoenix Jackson and she has quite an adventurous trip through the forest to town. One is made to believe this is just an average walk down the path for this old woman; however the reader is entertained by Phoenix’s mannerisms and realizes there is deeper meaning of the story. This story, though short in length, host an abundance of symbolism, racial issues
The issue which is going to be investigated in this essay is racism in English football. The research question "To which extent there still exists racism English football in the 21st century and how it can be tackled?" will be answered. The main aim of this investigation is to analyse different aspects of racial discrimination and try to identify whether it exists in today 's English football or not. Researching some statistics, such as number of black managers and captains of English football clubs, also racist incidents which happened in 21st century and opinions of important football experts about the issue will provide the answer to the research question mentioned above.
The United States of America is a land of freedom, a land of equality, and opportunity. We value independence and should look to exercise this in every form, as a nation. We must stay united and show respect to one another. This means we should not disregard ones ' ethnicity and culture, and use names in which are offensive towards their culture, in order to promote any sort of activity. This is aimed mainly at sports teams that carry racially inappropriate names. Couple teams that carry names that are very offensive to the natives are the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs, and arguably the most popular of them all, the Washington Redskins. These teams carrying such names bring offense to all the native
Recently, the use of controversial words has become a heavily debated topic and has gained international attention as seemingly truthful statements to some, cause insult to others. The Times article "Why 'Redskins' Is a Bad Word", by acclaimed linguist and professor John McWhortor, was published around the time the use of the word Redskin was being debated. In the article, McWhortor aims to clarify the condemnation of the word Redskin, by suggesting that the offence does not stem from the literal definition of such words, but instead the negative and often derogatory connotations the words have. McWhorter begins by introducing the recent discussions surrounding the use of the word Redskins, especially the actions taken by Californian schools
So the use of “Redskins” would be switched something else because the word Redskins is a racial word that was used in the olden days. That would be the same situation if a team you the word N***a as their Team name. The thing that both of these words have in common is that they were used to suppress the people that were different to
From Eleazar Wheelock in 1769 to Philip J. Hanlon in 2018, Dartmouth administrators have always been under fire from the student body. Whether it was the quality of food back in the days of Dartmouth’s early founding, women demanding equal rights and fair treatment on campus in the 1980’s, or recent student protests dealing with the demise of old traditions, Dartmouth’s legacy has gone through a great deal to land where it is today. Among these “obstacles”, one of the most prominent, and problematic, was rooted in the school’s mascot. From 1860 to 1970, Dartmouth’s use of a cartoon “Indian” went on with little to no public aggravation or protest. However, in the 1970’s and 1980’s, people began to realize the mascot was inhuman, as it depicted
"The team and its leaders are so obsessed with clinging to a dictionary-defined racial slur that they are willing to abandon their hometown and local fans in order to continue degrading Native Americans," said Joel Barkin, spokesman for the grassroots campaign. "Now that Bruce Allen has been relieved of day-to-day responsibilities as general manager he must have a lot of free time on his hands to double down on this racist moniker and try to figure out what to do about Native Americans returning donations from the team. Unfortunately, Bruce Allen, team owner Dan Snyder and the Washington team fail to understand that you cannot buy acceptance of continued racism. The Washington Redskins football team through the years has been put under increasing pressure to change its name in order to stop causing offense to Native
Reynolds constructs an interesting correlation of government intervention regarding culture in this matter to the same government intervention that Native Americans had to deal with for much of their history in the United States (659). In this particular portion of her article, she makes the argument that this is the exact same issue that Native Americans have fought against for so long, the government’s right to act and regulate issues of culture (659). Reynolds states, “More government is not the answer to a community concern” (659). Her argument clarifies that this a local issue and thus should be decided locally and not handled by the federal or state governments (659). She is worried that a negative message may be sent to students if schools do change their mascots. Reynolds believes this will relay a message to children to avoid discussing cultural differences of Native Americans because of fear of offending them (659). She believes this is completely detrimental to the understanding and acceptance of cultural differences and acceptance of our differences in society. Reynolds argues that if the mascots are kept, it will invoke more discussion among children and therefore they will have a better understanding of cultural
In the article “Most Native American-Themed Sports Mascots are Flattering and Not Racist” Chief Lee Vest of the Appalachian Confederated Tribes stated “I personally think it’s an honor to be chosen (as a mascot).” But he quickly points out that “Even though people say they’re silly for pretesting it, the biggest problem for all Native Americans is the use of Redskin.” The use of Redskin is racist and extremely offensive. Chief Lee Vest explains that if history textbooks mentioned that the term “Redskins” was coined during a Native American genocide, the public would understand why it is an offensive term. Native American themed mascots should not be used as sport mascots because of the inaccurate picture they give of the Native American people. The Native Americans are just trying to live their lives. They don’t need a mascot stereotyping them it something they are
Racism in team names such as the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins causes a lot of controversy because of the meaning of the name because it obscures the reality of Native Americans experiences, traditions, and place in U.S. history. Some people think that this isn’t really a problem but others want the teams to change their names because of how much they are bothered by it. I do not think teams should have to change their names because if the NFL or NBA doesn’t see a problem with the names then there probably isn’t a problem with it. People are probably over reacting over this thing.