Even though some people think we are in a post-racial America and individualism is the reason for many of the differences within social groups; racism is still exists, systemic group privilege and systems of power and oppression have created several disadvantages for certain minority groups and people of color. Given the tragic history of racism and the complexities of the issues, racism can be a hard topic to discuss for some people. However, racism is an important topic to discuss in order for us to better understand and critically analyze the issues at hand, and in order to help improve our society and race relations, "Silence only begets further misunderstanding and inhibits progress” (McClure & Harris, 2015, p. 5). As a white person, I have largely found it all too easy to avoid the conversation of racism, especially in recent years. It’s not that I’ve intentionally avoided the
…show more content…
There are many sports teams, both professional and non-professional which exercise cultural appropriation within their team mascots and identity. The use of cultural elements belonging to an oppressed group is very hurtful and demeaning to those minority racial/ethnic groups. Many of these cultural appropriations are done so stereotypical, unfairly or inaccurately portraying a group of people, meanwhile it’s being done to further commercialize and profit through their use of cultural appropriation. We also see much of cultural appropriation being done with Halloween costumes and inappropriate “theme” party’s on college campuses or other social gatherings. There are multiple groups subject to these cultural appropriations, however Native Americans often fall victim to this form of racism, through the use of these Indian names and mascots “society defines who Native Americans are instead of allowing them to determine how society thinks of them” (Eitzen & Zinn, 2015, p.
There are many sports teams, both professional and non-professional which exercise cultural appropriation within their team mascots and identity. The use of cultural elements belonging to an oppressed group is very hurtful and demeaning to those minority racial/ethnic groups. Many of these cultural appropriations are done so stereotypical, unfairly or inaccurately portraying a group of people, meanwhile it’s being done to further commercialize and profit through their use of cultural appropriation. We also see much of cultural appropriation being done with Halloween costumes and inappropriate “theme” party’s on college campuses or other social gatherings. There are multiple groups subject to these cultural appropriations, however Native Americans often fall victim to this form of racism, through the use of these Indian names and mascots “society defines who Native Americans are instead of allowing them to determine how society thinks of them” (Eitzen & Zinn, 2015, p.