The problem I think is that there is not enough Native Americans to speak up. With all of the oppression in their history and now their small numbers across the United States, their voice isn't loud enough to be heard. If any teams had a slang name for Hispanics or African Americans as their mascot it wouldn't be for long because of the huge outcry that would follow because of the sheer numbers of their populations. So, in conclusion, sadly it doesn't look like much is going to be done about this problem.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Mascots
After watching the video about mascots and how they depict Native Americans I had mixed feelings. Being from Cleveland and a long time Cleveland Indians fan I have always shrugged off the protesters of the games and didn't really consider it a big deal. After seeing the video I more understand where they are coming from. Only a small portion of the video dealt with the Indians but what struck me the most was about the Washington Redskins. I never knew that Redskin was a slang word that had a very negative meaning. Any word that is comparable to the 'N' word is terrible. I could not imagine another professional sports organization using a word comparable to that word to represent their team. It is very unprofessional in my mind.
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2 comments:
I agree with you that there arn't as many Native American to help spread the word about the racism they are experiencing. Even if it's not intentional, it still disrespects them and teams like the Washington Redskins should do something about it. It's 2009, time to change things like this in our society!
I agree with both of your conclusions, especially about the Washington Redskins. The fact that the team is the face of our nation's capital makes it even "more despicable," as Susan Shown Harjo said in the video (i.e., she was one of those who filed a lawsuit against them). Because there are not as many Native Americans to protest, it is important to have allies who also support this cause. There are a number of scholars who have written compellingly about this issue in case you would like to read more, and they are not Native Americans: Rich King, Laurel Davis, and Ellen Staurowsky (who was featured in the video clip).
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