The article Racism American Style and Resistance to Change: Art Education’s Role in the Indian Mascot Issue by Elizabeth M. Delacruz, discusses the problematic situation that occurs in with using the American Indian as a mascot without knowing its dark, disturbing history. She also explains on how people mock the Native American culture by using stereotypes / racial slurs and how it affects the way people identify them. In agreement with the author, people misuse the Indian mascot because of little education of the topic; “white privilege” also plays a key role in the mascot issue because in the early 1900s white people mistreated the Native Americans. Due to these stereotypes, the Native American people feel humiliated because of the way non-natives
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In other words, if a mascot is acting inappropriately, then there’s a problem. There are many ways in which people misinterpret the use of these mascots. White people began to use the Indian mascot in the 1920s. Indian children were named and trained to be mascots for schools and many white people considered them as a “wild animal race”. Matthew Richter says that the Native American children were forced out of their homes and be put into “incarcerated institutions that were in reality work camps run by Christian churches”. These children were mistreated because they’d make them work in harsh conditions such as in disease-ridden facilities and the staff there would sexually molest them. They would also only attend school for only four hours or less. Professor of law, Vernellia Randal, stated that many of the present-day issues with these types of mascots and their little knowledge of the topic could be due to the overused term of “white privilege”. She also states that the U.S government should put more emphasis on the issues on inequality and racism towards the Native Americans and should put a stop to …show more content…
Delacruz argues that it is easy for educators to ignore the issue when it comes to social inequality. To begin with, teachers should be informed about the Indian mascot controversy and have a clear understanding of the subject. As said in the beginning, I believe that educators shouldn’t dismiss the social inequality that surrounds the Native Americans only because they believe that they’re “honoring” the culture. They don’t realize that what they think is “entertainment” actually offends the
In other words, if a mascot is acting inappropriately, then there’s a problem. There are many ways in which people misinterpret the use of these mascots. White people began to use the Indian mascot in the 1920s. Indian children were named and trained to be mascots for schools and many white people considered them as a “wild animal race”. Matthew Richter says that the Native American children were forced out of their homes and be put into “incarcerated institutions that were in reality work camps run by Christian churches”. These children were mistreated because they’d make them work in harsh conditions such as in disease-ridden facilities and the staff there would sexually molest them. They would also only attend school for only four hours or less. Professor of law, Vernellia Randal, stated that many of the present-day issues with these types of mascots and their little knowledge of the topic could be due to the overused term of “white privilege”. She also states that the U.S government should put more emphasis on the issues on inequality and racism towards the Native Americans and should put a stop to …show more content…
Delacruz argues that it is easy for educators to ignore the issue when it comes to social inequality. To begin with, teachers should be informed about the Indian mascot controversy and have a clear understanding of the subject. As said in the beginning, I believe that educators shouldn’t dismiss the social inequality that surrounds the Native Americans only because they believe that they’re “honoring” the culture. They don’t realize that what they think is “entertainment” actually offends the