Controversies On Native American Names

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.

I'm not suggesting that Native Americans need to grow tougher skin or something, because I can only imagine how hurtful it would feel to be called a derogatory name, but

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.

Sports teams use "Indian," as well as many other mascots with related themes, to honor those who are native to

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

Many people look at the Washington Redskins logo and see it just the same as any of the other NFL teams’ logos. So, why take the time and money to change their brand for the very few amount of people that think it’s little offensive? In the past couple of years, a lot of people see many pro and college sports teams differently because of their mascot or logo. Native Americans, whose culture diminished ever since Europeans stepped onto the shores of the East, are used as branding for all levels and divisions of athletics teams. A lot of people argue for both sides of the conflict, with one side reasoning that the logos look racist and disrespect Native American culture, and the other side reasoning that they honor Indians and there is not even an issue. However, a ton of people fighting for the Indian mascot’s removal do not know how Native Americans themselves truly feel about them. Also, the general public probably does not know either that many schools actually work with specific tribes to make sure that they respect their culture. The United States should not ban Native American mascots because most Native Americans don’t get insulted from sports teams’ logos and many teams work with tribes to make sure that they don’t disparage Indian customs and traditions.

There is at least one school in every state with a Native American mascot. Using Native American mascots is an important topic and is debated all over the country. When schools select mascots,they use them for team pride, not for a joke. They are meant to show courage and bravery for that team. Using Native American images and names in professional, college, and high school sports teams does not reinforce and perpetuate stereotypes because the teams using them are taking pride in it.

The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team that is based out of Washington area and currently play at FedEx Field in Maryland. In 1932, the name Boston Braves emerged when the football program began to arise. The following year, the name the Boston Redskins replaced the original name of the Boston Braves. In 1937, the team changed locations to Washington, thus making their current team name the Washington Redskins. Unfortunately, a problem arose around the 1990’s when the Native American people began to feel “disrespected”. The reason the Native American people have such hatred for the team is due to the fact that it portrays and offends the Natives skin color with the name, “Redskin.” The Washington Redskins debate plays a significant role in professional sports team history due to the demoralization amongst Native American Society. Factors that contribute to this debate include, but are not limited to; religion, economics, and politics.

In Washington they took a poll asking Native Americans if they were offended by the name Redskins. The poll Showed that 90% of Native Americans did not feel offended by the team name, in fact they thought that it showed respect to their heritage. But on the other hand when they took a poll across the whole nation people were a little more disgruntled with the name as 23% of people wanted the name to be changed. “The Post poll also found that 78 percent deemed the Redskins' name an issue that is either "not too" or "not at all" important”(Keim, 2016,Para.5). The lead plaintiff that is filing for the Redskins to

Many areas of the world have been affected because they were accused of having a racist mascot or team name. In the United States many teams have respect for Native Americans. Counterpoint: Native American-Themed Sports Teams Represent the History and Traditions of the Areas They Represent, and Changing Names Does a Disservice to the

The dispute over whether Native American mascots should be used as a team symbol dates back to the 1970’s (Price 2). There are those who are passionately against Native American mascots. These advocators insist that Native American mascots are degrading to

The article, “The 2,128 Native American Mascots People Aren 't Talking About” written by Hayley Munguia gives a massive overview of not only the Redskins, but the 2, 129 other teams representing the controversial Native American mascot references. Munguia begins the article by sharing that a little boy does not even realize the connection between the Redskins and the Native American innuendo. She that this is not just the issue of an NFL team, but about all the other teams in High School, College, Semi Pro, and Pro athletics, and how “8.2% of college have Native American team names. Munguia goes into an interview with a high school coach from the Estelline Redmen. He claims that the name is for the “color they

The franchise has decided to appeal this ruling by the court. The team attorney for the Washington Redskins franchise claims that, “We are convinced that we will win because the facts and the law are on the side of our franchise that has proudly used the name Redskins for more than 80 years” (Bruce Allen 2015). The team even plans to take this process to the Supreme Court. While the name may come off as a derogatory term, it will be very hard for the native americans to win again due to longevity. Not only this, but throughout history, the native americans have always been on the losing

culture today, with the Redskins not being the only team that uses a tribal Native American name and mascot to represent their sports team (Grose, 695). The other team I am referring to is University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Chief Illinewek. Both the Redskins and Chief Illinewek exemplify disrespect to the Native American culture because they imitate their ceremonial dances and traditional clothing in a mocking manner. The traditional dances in the Native American culture are very sincere and dear to the people. The Native American culture is not something to be imitated for U.S sports entertainment especially because it is hurting an entire race of people, who have taken an action to put an end to the mockery of their

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