“Our true nationality is mankind.” (HG Wells) The Washington Redskins are a football team. Their name is controversial because some people believe that it’s racist towards Native Americans, while others believe that the name should be left alone. Although it’s true that about 20% of Native Americans find the name racist, the other 80% of Native Americans don’t think it’s racist at all. The most powerful argument to protect the Redskins name is because most Native Americans are proud to be named after the football team in honor of their determination and integrity. An example to support this position is when in a letter to fans, the team’s owner, Don Syder defends his decision to not change the name when he says “it is a symbol of everything we stand for: strength, courage, pride, and respect.” (Crowe, 2013) This example shows that the name is simply showing the eminence of the Natives. Furthermore, another example of the Native Americans pride is when Kim Stronzier, a superintendent of Gonzales school, send an email that says the district is “honored to be known as the ‘might apaches.’” Being known as “mighty” is a proud name to be called. …show more content…
An example to support this position is when Suarez, a Redskins fan, says “our culture has gotten to the point where every single itsy bitsy thing can be turned offensive by somebody.” (Crowe, 2013) This example shows that our society is going completely downhill. Furthermore, another example of the protection of the Redskins name is how traditional the name already is. Macarena Hernandez, a humanities professor at the University of Houston-Victoria said “if the majority of the fans were Native American, the team’s owner would have changed the name long ago.” Macarena explains that if the name was a huge problem, it would’ve already been
Back in June, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of an Asian-American rock band named “The Slants” and stated the federal government cannot ban trademarks, on the grounds that it offends, to do so violates the first amendment right to freedom of speech. While the rock band was trying to trademark their name as an act of “re-appropriation,” an attempt to reclaim a slur used against their community, the outcome of the court ruling has opened a door for those who would use this ruling for less principled causes. The disparagement clause in the 1946 Lanham Trademark Act prohibited the registration of any mark that officials consider disparaging or offensive to people, institutions, beliefs, etc. Now that the clause is deemed unconstitutional for
In Using Indian Names for Sports Teams Harm Native Americans, Ward Churchill discusses why using names like the Washington “Redskins,” Colorado “Savages,” or Kansas City “Chiefs,” are a racist practice and should be put to stop. The team’s mascots also use feathers, beads, spears, and “war paint” in an attempt to look like stereotypical Native Americans. Churchill says many American Indians have been against he uses of native names, gestures, and symbols. Churchill recognizes the rough historical relationship between natives and the non-natives. Certainly, colonization detrimentally effected many Natives, and the American Government historically has moved Natives out of their own land.
The name Redskins is seen as a derogatory and racial term traced back to the 18th century. It is found to be demeaning and offensive towards the Native Americans due to the history of the word. Some sources state that the term is in reference to when the Native Americans would paint their faces red, but others proclaim it's related to the scalping incidents. During the mid-19th century, authorities offered bounties for the scalps of Indians and referred to them as redskins. This issue has resurfaced once again as a dispute between the Washington Redskins and the Native Americans over the name of this certain National Football League team.
When people talk about mascots being named after Indian cultures they think that the Indians being recognized should feel honored. However, when that team plays their rival the other fans are taught to hate those people causing them to hear hateful and degrading comments throughout their lives. “If it’s the team’s tradition, then it’s a legacy of bigotry.” (Wulf). People don’t show respect for Native Americans they use them to create a profit.
The author uses a personal anecdote to begin his argument: he “bought the Cleveland cap with the famous Chief Wahoo Logo on it” (520), which betrayed his Creek mother’s faith; as a result, his mother jerked the cap off his head and “threw it in the trash” (520), which left an indelible impression on him. Shakely’s personal experience is efficient to draw a vivid picture about “Indian Mascot” abuse for audiences. Based on his experience, he believes that possessing dignity and respect is the right to everybody, and it doesn’t apply to majority rules. Therefore, Shakely claims that college and professional teams should abandon Native American names and mascots because it is racial
“If you ask, the answers are pretty clear: that the images are an inaccurate conception of Native Americans that’s from the past, that confines a group of peoples that is active, and has communities, and is very much alive and well today, as an artifact, rather than as a present group” (“When the School Mascot Is a Native American Stereotype”). This evidence proves that Native American groups say that the natives from the past and now are different and that the assumptions are wrong. All of these mascots make people assume the worst of the natives, and their lifestyles. These mascots are invading the natives and other cultures' way of life and are offensive to
School systems that show negative images of American Indians give of a negative impact on the self esteem of the American Indian students. This also disrespects the spiritual beliefs and values of the American Indian people. In the State of Oregon they announced that their public schools are not allowed to use Native Americans as mascots or sports teams names like “Indians”, “Chiefs”, “Braves”, and “Redskins” but not “Warriors because it’s imagery did not specifically mean Native Americans. The schools were expected to change the names
Sports 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.
The debates that surround the usage of Native American names, characters, and symbols in sports are a continuous problem with two sides arguing whether or not the
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
On September 26th 2014, Derek Jeter took his final swing at the most prestigious Yankees Stadium in front of thousands and millions of baseball fans and ended up winning his final home game. The crowd went ballistic over the RBI and chanted “Derek Jeter” while raising signs that read “Salute to the Captain”. At that very moment, people viewed Derek Jeter not for what race he fell under or for what kind of person he was or for the ladies he slept with, but the athlete who electrified the diamond every time he stepped on it. Roberta Newman wrote an article on (Branding Derek Jeter, Redefining Race) companies such as Movado and Avon on how they showcase Derek Jeter “as neither black nor white and so can relate to everyone” (Newman) as a turning
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.
There are many sports team names and mascots whose names reference Native Americans; this has become a public controversy due to the sports team names being interpreted as a racially offensive pursue. Most people do not take into consideration that these teams have an important meaning behind them, and how they contribute to the insightful history of Native Americans themselves. It would be a catastrophe having to lose all the history. 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.
We have since adopted the phrase “Native American,” as a more appropriate (and yet still all encompassing) term. However, another antiquated expression has recently gathered a lot of media attention. The National League Football team for the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area plays under the name “The Washington Redskins.”
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