Sherman Alexie's Indian Education
In a few scenes of the the grades one through twelve the short story “Indian Education,” by the Native American author and filmmaker Sherman Alexie is able to show us what it is like growing up in the white, American culture. Sherman Alexie is able to give us a glimpse of the differences of what it means to be in a non-white student area that is struggling due to the effects of colonization. Even though it has been many years since the European explores “found” North America, the settlers and government continued to expand into Indian territories. The Native Americans gradually saw their land and culture diminishing as they were relocated to reservations. The feelings of oppression become obvious through the eyes of Victor, a young boy. The …show more content…
Cultural appropriation is a sociological concept that views the use or adoption of elements of one culture by members of a different culture as a negative phenomenon. This theme is something that is not only found in Sherman Alexie’s short essay, but is also found in our world today. For example, the school that Victor transfers to is an off reservation, all white school where the mascot is an Indian. This is a disrespect to the Indians, and Victor believes that he is “probably the only actual Indian ever to play for a team with such a mascot,” (line 68). There are many examples of schools having names and mascots based of different Native American tribes and symbols. These mascots are seen as racist imitations of the Native Americans. There are even football teams such as the “Redskins” team of Washington D.C. that in a way has a negative connotation. For the Native Americans, the term “redskin” is a slur and a generalization of the people and their skin color, basically a stereotype. Many of these mascots run around wearing headdresses, beating drums, and waving tomahawks. These images have led us to relate such things to the Native Americans and it continues to push the stereotype of a Native American. The separation of Native Americans from their heritage, lands, and culture have led to an even bigger divide between them and the white culture. All these things are still impacting the lives of the Native American people
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326 Words | 2 PagesThe author Tex G. Hall is explaining Native American team sports mascots are racist. He is testifying for many other people as well. He makes a very sensible are you and uses the motion and great facts facts. The way his argument is structured is very engaging. He first off thanks many people for bringing this controversy to everyone 's attention.
Analysis Of Indian Mascots You Re Out
523 Words | 3 Pages“Indian Mascots- You’re Out” is a very well organized and thought out article about the stereotyping of American Indians in sports. As a child, Shakely supported the Cleveland Indians and even the buck tooth, big nose Indian mascot that accompanied them, but once he witnesses the effect that such support has on his mother, it quickly fades. The author describes the hurt his mother feels from seeing her own son wearing a stereotype of their heritage.
Metepenagiag Mi Kmaq Nation By Noah Augustine
733 Words | 3 PagesNoah Augustine, former chief of Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation, delivered a great essay on how culturally and morally ridiculous, it is to use Native symbols for sports team logos. He effectively talked about how offensive it really is to make ridicule of cultural symbols by using facts and real-life events. He is also helped by the use of analogy, diction and rhetorical questions to achieve this. Augustine, impressively used an analogy to persuade a wide range of readers as he makes a connection between other cultures and how they would feel if they were put in the same shoes as the Natives were in. He goes on to say, “Nonetheless, for me, as an Aboriginal person, the use of these religious symbols and caricatures of Indian chiefs or spiritual
Native American Mascots Research Paper
340 Words | 2 Pages“At Kingston, Oklahoma high school, which is 58 percent Native American, the name ‘Redskins’ has been worn by its students for 104 years.” (Ritz) If the high school students feel proud to have these mascots, no problems should have
Jay Rosentein: The Use Of Native Americans As Mascots
276 Words | 2 PagesJay Rosentein took a look at the long time practice of honoring Native American’s as mascots and team names in sports whether professional levels or college teams. He gives us insight that it is not only about using the natives as mascots but the issue at hand of racism, minority representation and stereotypes. This film is more than the practice of utilizing Indians as mascots, it is about culture identity and how we should all change to make a difference. In this documentary we follow Charlene Teters, the leader some have called her the Rosa Parks of Native Americans and her struggles to protect her identity and cultural symbols.
Stereotypes Of Team Mascots
293 Words | 2 PagesSports team’s mascots have been known to have the most stereotypical features. These mascots are offensive towards Native Americans, because mascots have feathers, headdresses, and even braids and mohawks. Mascots in the past have made it look as if them and their teams have no respect or common decency for Native Americans. Some of the most offensive features of these mascots are the mascots having weird, and misshapened faces. For example the mascot for the Cleveland indians.
Native Americans Have Become A Political Pawn Analysis
897 Words | 4 PagesReynolds 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.
Native American Logos
983 Words | 4 PagesI decided to start a conversation about the use of Native Americans as logos for sports teams. I have always had strong opinions on this topic because, even as I child, I could see that this practice was offensive. My first memory of this topic was in middle school when another team in our area used American Indians as their mascot, and my sister and I thought it was weird that they’d use people instead of animals. As I have come to read more and more about this topic, I find it hard to believe some people would actually be okay with using an entire culture for the purpose of making a joke of them.
Argumentative Essay On Mascots
1269 Words | 6 PagesThe 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.
The Impact Of Westward Expansion On Native Americans
847 Words | 4 PagesNative Americans flourished in North America, but over time white settlers came and started invading their territory. Native Americans were constantly being thrown and pushed off their land. Sorrowfully this continued as the Americans looked for new opportunities and land in the West. When the whites came to the west, it changed the Native American’s lives forever. The Native Americans had to adapt to the whites, which was difficult for them.
Appropriating Native American Imagery Honors No One But The Prejudice Summary
423 Words | 2 Pages"Appropriating Native American Imagery Honors No One but the Prejudice" by Amy Stretten shows the art of a woman who honored her culture and race and refused to continue being offended by a mascot. The essay is to target those in the community that feels offended of what may be occurring in their school also. Student's in the community are the ones who mostly have an opinion in what is hurting them and causing distress at school. This essay uses various techniques to prove its opinions towards how offensive a person may feel toward a mascot. Examples of these type of various techniques come out as ethos, pathos, and logos.
Native American Stereotypes In Sports
641 Words | 3 PagesFor the past few decades there has been a debate raging in American sports culture about the use of Native American names in sports. Teams like the Washington Redskins and several other professional and college teams have been criticized for using Native American names as mascots and team names. Some people criticize the names and say that it’s offensive and demeaning and should be changed. Others say that the names honor Native American heritage have been a team tradition for many years and should not be changed. Sports teams should not use Native American names as trademarks or mascots because they promote negative stereotypes of Native Americans in society.
Reel Injun Analysis
1043 Words | 5 Pages“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
Indian Education Sherman Alexie Summary
490 Words | 2 PagesExpectations often impose an inescapable reality. In the short story “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie, Victor often struggles with Indian and American expectations during school. Alexie utilizes parallelism in the construction of each vignette, introducing a memoir of tension and concluding with a statement about Victor’s difficulties, to explore the conflict between cultures’ expectations and realities. Alexei initially uses parallelism to commence each vignette with cultural tension. In second grade, Victor undergoes a conflict with his missionary teacher, who coerced Victor into taking an advanced spelling test and cutting his braids.
Indian Education Sherman Alexie Analysis
929 Words | 4 PagesBeing a writer of many different styles, Sherman Alexie started off as a poet before writing novels and short stories. His poetic manner continues in the story “Indian Education”. He has a wide array of dry statements mixed with metaphors and statements that are not meant to be taken literally. The trend for each years is that he starts off dry and literal and ends poetic and metaphorical. His description of his interactions with the “white girl” in seventh grade is a great example.
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