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The Pros And Cons Of Banning Native American Mascots

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Mascots are entertaining animals or historical figures to represent a sports team or a school. However, what is considered fun to others may be harmful to many more. Most Native American tribes do not like schools and teams to use their name as a mascot. There have been many discussions lately whether to ban the use of the names relating to American Indians. Native Amerian mascots should be banned. These names may be racist and belittle the moral values of the tribe. These names and actions can hurt First nation people both physically and mentally. It can also lead to stereotypes. To begin, some symbols and historical figures are very idealistic to Native Americans tribes. When used without permission by other companies, these names can be …show more content…

When students and members hear racial terms, there is a psychological effect on them (pride or prejudice). "The American Psychological Association in 2005 called for the immediate retirement of the mascots based on studies that showed the harmful effects of inaccurate racial portrayals." They feel and think like they have no worth in the world anymore. Some even go to the extreme, suicide. How would you feel if your sports team was bad for example the Utes? Everyone would say that the Utes are terrible. That would bring major problems to the Ute tribe. The members would feel hurt even more. “As long as they’re winning, we’re together, Billie likes to say, mostly as a joke (Flordia State University article).” This means that he is on the side of Flordia State University until they lose. He feels that because they are winning that they represent the Seminole nation. If they lose they do not represent them and put the Seminole Nation to shame. What if your school participated in a scheme that was considered unlawful and no one liked that school anymore? That would demote the tribe member's value in life. We need to consider the other side before going with the plan of …show more content…

“We Seminoles embrace that mascot, Chief James Billie, the tribe’s chairman, said, "They honor us (Flordia State Universtiy).” The Seminoles are a pretty good team each year. If they lose, the Seminole tribe wouldn't feel honored by the team anymore. It would go back to a stereotypical situation. They only honor the tribe if they are winning (Flordia State University). Only the minority of the Native American tribes believe schools and sports teams honor them. The majority of them believe they are racist and stereotypical to their people and should not be used. We should honor the Indians in a nice, more agreeable

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