Analysis Of Arlene Hirschfelder 'It Is Time To Stop Playing Indians'

The majority culture defends use of the Native Americans symbols in sports and many are confused by the objections raised by Native Americans. “Team Names represent something positive to the fans, People don’t name teams after things they hate.” (40 What’s in a Team Name, Banks). For example, the University of Georgia selected the “The Georgia Bulldogs as their Mascot.”(What’s in a Team Name). Their attributes are “toughness...and integrity”(What’s in a Team Name) to their mascot. Teams also look

In a majority of cases, this view is even endorsed by the tribes themselves (Morrison). They argue that the restriction and ultimate elimination of the Native American mascot would also abolish the nation’s historic view of this cultural entity as characters of strength, determination, boldness, resourcefulness and courage. They contend that these same positive attributes are not only required by athletes, but are held expectations of the sporting community. The pursuant argument entails that there is an inherent oddity in the suggestion that naming a team after an Indian tribe is a calculated insult.

To begin with, it is racist and derogatory to use Native Americans as mascots. One town in Montana, Ronan, calls its sports teams the “Chiefs” and the “Maidens”. In several Native American cultures, maidens are considered less than or lower than women. Also, the mascots of other schools are often animals. Using Native

Although Native Americans have told ESPN and the owner of the team that they disliked the term redskin and that they are not comfortable being a mascot or subject to slurs, the name is unsuccessful to do so. Many natives are seen protesting on the street showing people that they want a name change and to raise awareness of

History of Native American names in the sports world were originally established to show disrespect, but today represent honor and pride. These “offensive” names came into a new era and were established across the states. In the beginning of this trend Indians had no say over what was offensive and where they stood politically. Daniel Snyder says, “My team and fans have always believed our name represents honor, respect and pride.” Law professors agreed with Snyder and said they shall keep their name. USA Today Sports said, “it was bad as a Native American life as it had ever been during the time of reservation establishment.” Populations had collapsed from several million to 250,000 from reservation confinement and merges made by the federal government. Since the name fiasco laws have been put in place to civilize Indians. These laws were passed by bureaucrats creating tutelage for

The Native American people have been apart of America ever since the “white man” came over from Europe. There traditions have been around for as long as they have been alive. They were the first people on the land we call home today. The Native American people have done more for this land than we have and we do not appreciate them at all for that. It is crazy how some people just blow them off like they are less than us and do not get anything special, but they do not also need to be disrespected in the public eye. Professional sports teams that have Native American mascots are used in a way that disrespects the people of Native American descent. It also happens at the high school level and gives the young adults with an biased outlook on the culture and history of these people. Any sports team name with an Native American mascot should have to change there name.

There has been many controversy with teams using Native American name for mascots and has become a major issue in today’s society. Many have viewed the Washington Redskins as honor for Native Americans, others see it racist, insensitive, and demeaning. Woods (2016) claims that “the complaint is that the use of stereotypical team names, mascots, and logos perpetuates an ideology that dehumanizes and demeans the cultures of Native Americans” (p. 298). Since the issue arise, many scholars, journalists and leaders have joined the battle to ensure that each team will eliminate the nicknames since it is considered abusive or hostile. It may take time but the trend is growing. More than 1,400 professional, collegiate,

The year is 1991.  The Atlanta Braves had just completed their first trip to the Fall Classic in four decades, and the Washington Redskins were undefeated, well on their way to their third Super Bowl title.  All across the eastern seaboard, sports fans were tasting success - while American Indians were in an uproar.  This year witnessed the peak of the protests over the use of mascots with American Indian themes.  With two of the major professional sports teams in question making front-page news across the country, many of us heard American Indians' complaints for the first time.  Suddenly, thanks to the cries of thousands of demonstrators, the names of many Americans' favorite teams had become synonymous with "nigger."

The controversy over the naming of sports teams after ethnic groups has been boiling since the mid-twentieth century. Sports teams in America, ranging from Pee-wee leagues, high schools, and colleges to Professional sports, have used any enumeration of nick names and mascots by which to represent their team with pride and sometimes even comedy. However, the lines of political correctness have been greatly and maybe even intentionally blurred in terms of the use of specific ethnic groups within team names and the use of the stereotypical image of those teams’ caricatures, the native-American in particular. Of the four major professional sports team franchises included in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL that do possess ethnic monikers, only two are of Caucasoid based ethnicity, whereas the other 5 are direct references to Native American ethnicity or stereotypes

The debate about whether or not the Washington Redskins should change their name has been a topic for a long time. Some Native Americans have often considered the name a racial slur and think that the league should get rid of the name as it doesn’t represent Native Americans in the best way possible. In 1937 the Redskins moved to Washington and decided to retain the name even though it had faced backlash then. Since then the team has over time shown more caution on using slogans that may disrespect Native Americans. Some slogans they did use include “On the Warpath, with a cartoon drawing of an angry Indian, and another called “Teepee Talk, featuring a clip-art Indian sticking his head out of a tepee” (Shapira, 2016, Para.5). There will always be a debate if the team should get rid of its name but for right now Washington’s football teams name is the Redskins.

     Many people do not consider themselves supporting Native American mascots that depict them in a bad manner. But when people walk around with a Atlanta Braves shirt on with a Indian with a tomahawk in his hand, it is degrading to the Indians. It is stereotyping them. School mascots and Sports team’s mascots are named after groups of people for no reason known. Notre Dame was founded by Irish Catholics, but their sports team was named the Fighting Irish. The name Fighting Irish has nothing to do with the Irish Catholics, it depicts them in a wrong way.(Price, 3). Team names can be changed to similar names that do not depict certain groups of people. Like the Redskins can be called the Red Hawks or the

The names used by professional sports teams are offensive and perpetuate a blatant categorization of Native Americans that further Marginalizes them. Professional teams are the highest level of sport and therefore set an example for the rest of the industry and Americans themselves. By holding offensive names these teams are enabling a culture of racism in America that people learn to idolize and thus overlook. Numerous Native American organizations including the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), United South and Eastern Tribes Inc. (USET), and over 40 individual tribal governments across the country have spoken out about these professional teams and the disrespect they generate. (Ending the Era) “Redskins” is a term defined in the dictionary as a racial slur. It refers to the bloody scalps of Native Americans who were hunted and killed, then sold for bounties. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently canceled several of the Washington NFL team 's trademark registrations because they were found disparaging to Native communities. (Change the Mascot) Braves is a term that has been used to disparage Indian men by characterizing them all as fighters, it is a similar

The Change the Mascot campaign has made a website for people to see how big of topic this is to them. Also, on their website they’ve put out many other Native American tribes that support the changing of the name, ways to take action and even ways to contact them. They have a tab that shows the history of progress that shows that many team’s names and mascots have been changed from a racial Native American term to a more laid back name or mascot. They believe that the name and mascot should and will be changed to create more of non-racial effect among the Washington Redskins fans and community. Also, the Change the Mascot organization has put together a way to for non-Native American people to show their support by using the tag #ProudToBe Standing With #NotYourMascot on social media. Many native american tribes have actually sent out letters to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about changing the Washington Redskins name, logo and mascot. This is a national movement of Americans across the country, both Native and non-Native alike, who are standing against racism and strongly encouraging a

Throughout ancient times, many names have identified as racial slurs. Most recently, controversy has surrounded multiple sports teams such as the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, and the Washington Redskins; however, some may believe the Braves and Indians name is more to honor them, instead of discriminate against them. The conflict of the Washington Redskins seems highest compared to other teams. This kind of denigration has both visible and unseen consequences for Native Americans (Keim 2). Throughout this paper opinions on the argument has been voiced, polls which have taken placed, and protests have developed for both sides of the argument will be taken discussed to find a resolution for the potential name change of the Washington Redskins.

Almost everybody loves going to sporting events and seeing all the excited fans as well as the energized mascots. There has been quite a variety of mascots and logos seen in schools whether it be high schools or colleges and in professional leagues. According to a search done by an ESPN FiveThirtyEight reporter through a database known as MascotDB, out of the 42,624 teams in the database at the time there were 2,129 sports teams that have reference to Native Americans (Munguia). That’s about a five percent of all mascots while Native American only make up roughly two percent of the population of the United States in 2014 (US Census). There has been much debate and controversy around mascots and team names that reference Native American throughout the years and gaining more attention especially with the most public debate regarding National