Racism In Mascots

Racial or ethnic discrimination has been prevalent for a period of time. It’s continued to show up in various forms and sometimes indirectly. However, sometimes racism can be difficult to detect or understand. Take for instance, the NFL team the Washington Redskins. Many see their mascot as just a mascot yet it’s literal meaning goes much further than a man dressed up with a red painted body wearing feathers cheering at football games. There have been instances were councils have called for the renaming of the team. In the article A Public Accommodations Challenge to the Use of Indian Team Names and Mascots in Professional Sports written in the Harvard Law Review it states, “The District of Columbia City Council has passed a resolution requesting …show more content…
It makes mockery of one of the most oppressed ethnicities in American history. For this reason alone, the overwhelming issue has been a hot topic in various city councils and districts. However, I do not believe the Natives realize that professional sports team using their images somewhat brings positivity and prosperity to their race. According to the webpage entitled The Facts, the Redskins see the mascot as symbols of “Honor. Loyalty. Unity. Respect. Courage. And More.” Numerous organizations have respected the Native Americans wishes and changed their mascots to relinquish a discriminatory public image. Unfortunately, not everyone has followed suit with eliminating Indian nicknames as mentioned in A Public Accommodations Challenge to the Use of Indian Team Names and Mascots in Professional Sports it says, “Despite this emergence of public sympathies in favor of change, professional sports team owners have refused to abandon discriminatory nicknames and mascots” (page 905). The internal support for the Indian mascot amongst these professional teams shows unsurmountable bravery. They possess a positive outlook on using this image and deny the negative connotations that they public may have about their decision to use the Native American’s …show more content…
Eliminating this passion of tradition may ultimately be ineffective for organizations because the move is not necessary. I personally played against a high school football team that was named the Warriors and each member of that team took pride in honoring such an extensive culture out of respect to their history. Getting rid of American Indian themed mascots I believe would be senseless and insufficient. How can everyone do away with Indian nicknames and mascots if they only see the use of their likelihood in such a negative way? It takes research and sometimes just personal experiences to realize the honoring tradition of the customs rehearsed by those who use the Native American image. However, everyone does have a vague yet simple minded perspective about the topic and often times many criticize rather than sympathizing. In the scholarly article entitled Indian Mascot World Series Tied 1-1: Who Will Prevail as Champion it challenges those who often see things one-sided by stating, “It seems that those who are seeking to hall the use of the Indian mascot are placing the blame on the wrong individuals. Perhaps the blame lies with those fans who have taken the mascot to the extreme (I.e., creating the tomahawk chop) instead of the teams who chose their mascots out of honor and respect” (Nicholson 359). With support of my claim that eliminating the Redskins mascot as unnecessary it is