In all sports, both creative and uncreative mascots give fans a symbol to rally behind. How often is this symbol inappropriate or inconsiderate? Due to the dominance of white culture in this country, certain age-old traditions seem to escape critique during the discussion of what is racist. One of these traditions is the incorporation of mascots into sports events. Opting for fierce or intimidating images, teams often use insensitive depictions of minorities, especially Native Americans.
There is an outlandish number of native mascots throughout all sports and all competitive levels. It seems that at least over 2,000 teams, either high school, college, semi-pro, or pro, use a mascot that references Native Americans. There are some schools either …show more content…
Similarly, there are plenty of stereotypical mascots of non-native ethnic groups as well. Examples are a team that used to be the Chinks and a Texas school still named the Cotton Pickers. Thankfully the worst examples of “whitey’s” hold over all sports have seemingly come to pass. There once was a time when, in order to draw in white crowds, African-American baseball players would play in grass skirts and warpaint under the name Zulu Cannibal Giants. Resembling the Giants in their mixture of sports and comedy, soon later a team formed known as the Ethiopian …show more content…
The Washington Redskins have come under fire for a while now for refusing to change their name, even while redskin can be comparable to other racial epithets aimed at African or Asian Americans. Native American Republican Congress member Tom Cole (OK) wrote a letter to Washington’s owner stating, "Native Americans throughout the country consider the term 'redskin ' a racial, derogatory slur akin to the 'N-word. '” A resolution by the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes has outwardly expressed similar feeling toward the use of redskin. Considering the widespread use of their names and images, Native Americans tend to grant white people benefit of the doubt however they stand firm against what is not a tribe, nor an honorable term.
Surrounded by masses of people who realize mascot or logo representations can easily be racist, some teams like the Cleveland Indians still refuse to even redesign their logo to be racially
There is an outlandish number of native mascots throughout all sports and all competitive levels. It seems that at least over 2,000 teams, either high school, college, semi-pro, or pro, use a mascot that references Native Americans. There are some schools either …show more content…
Similarly, there are plenty of stereotypical mascots of non-native ethnic groups as well. Examples are a team that used to be the Chinks and a Texas school still named the Cotton Pickers. Thankfully the worst examples of “whitey’s” hold over all sports have seemingly come to pass. There once was a time when, in order to draw in white crowds, African-American baseball players would play in grass skirts and warpaint under the name Zulu Cannibal Giants. Resembling the Giants in their mixture of sports and comedy, soon later a team formed known as the Ethiopian …show more content…
The Washington Redskins have come under fire for a while now for refusing to change their name, even while redskin can be comparable to other racial epithets aimed at African or Asian Americans. Native American Republican Congress member Tom Cole (OK) wrote a letter to Washington’s owner stating, "Native Americans throughout the country consider the term 'redskin ' a racial, derogatory slur akin to the 'N-word. '” A resolution by the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes has outwardly expressed similar feeling toward the use of redskin. Considering the widespread use of their names and images, Native Americans tend to grant white people benefit of the doubt however they stand firm against what is not a tribe, nor an honorable term.
Surrounded by masses of people who realize mascot or logo representations can easily be racist, some teams like the Cleveland Indians still refuse to even redesign their logo to be racially