Offensive Slur Research Paper

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.

Teams that have the name like Redskins, Indians, and Red Raiders are racist terms used as mascots. Interchange the name with the Negroes, the Jews or the Asians and that sounds even worse but, it all means the same thing. They are all racist terms that no one should use to represent something like a team name. According to racismagainstindians.org, Native Americans were banned from practicing their own religion and would be often thrown in jail if they were caught all the way up to 1978. But when nonnative people at sporting events would dance and sing their songs it would be completely okay. This makes no sense,

Roppolo insists, “The real problem with the kind of dysconscous, symbolic, abstract racism that is perpetuated today by sports mascots… is that it enables very real, very concrete, and very conscious acts of violent racism that American Indian people still face in this country and this hemisphere on a daily basis”(228). This demonstrates how the mascot does have a detrimental impact towards Native Americans. People who are subjected to seeing Native Americans through these mascots already have fallacious perceptions of what Native Americans behave like. Due to this, people will start to react accordingly to how they feel the Native Americans are supposed to act due to the distorted stereotypes that are presented to the public. People do not even realize that they are acting this way towards Native Americans, because Roppolo claims that Americans have gotten used to being racist towards Native Americans for so long that it is now invisible, aka dysconscious racism(226). People do not realize that it is ingrained in them, so when they come into contact with a Native American they may perceive the situation different than what actually happened. Roppolo justified this by going on to add, “One young man had his brother nearly beaten to death - his skull cracked open, not just cracked - when several bouncers at a local nightclub had to control his ‘rowdy’

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 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 Native American people have a tenacious opinion on whether the Washington Redskins team should change their name due to its derogatory meaning. According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, the word “Redskin” is defined as Native American, but is specifically stated to be “Usually Offensive”(Merriam-Webster). The Native Americans deeply thought that the names, symbols, and mascots were completely disrespectful,

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.

Have you thought about the name or mascot of your favorite sports team like the Chicago Blackhawks, the Washington Redskins, or even a college team like Florida State Seminoles? These teams and more have been accused of being racist towards Native Americans and their culture. However, many teams do not intentionally use their mascots to discriminate against Natives. Instead, they represent Native American Tribes and use names to respect the history of the tribal nation. Others would say that sports teams are just using those native titles to gain more fans. Also, natives would argue that professional sports teams are making fun of their tribes because of the decisions that the team has made about the way that the native cultures are portrayed. People would say that teams with native mascots have lack of respect towards Native Americans. However, many professional sports teams that are named after a native tribe are respectful towards the native heritage in ways such as having a partnership with the tribe, honoring a leader that the team was named after, and even helping out a tribe.

The author S. L. Price of the article “the Indian Wars” analyzes the confusing subject of Native American names and mascots used in sports teams in high school, college, and professional levels. The article is written for Sports Illustrated and offers readers an insight into this debate whether indigenous symbols in sports are honoring or insulting in Native Americans. The author addresses this topic with evidence of both sides of the issue, and leaves the reader aware of the topic and its unclear stance in today’s society. This article examines the controversy of using Native American names and mascots by sports teams, even though the author provides two sides to the issue, the different evidence blinds the argument he is trying to make.

Native Americans are often offended by racist nicknames, logos, and stereotypes in sports. The Washington Redskins and many other teams are facing this.

Chiefs, Redskins, and Braves. All names of popular, professional American sports teams, all are offensive terms for Native Americans. It is time for these teams to make a positive change. The names are insulting, not just to Native Americans, but to all Americans. Furthermore, the names and images of mascots encourages negative stereotypes that don’t represent our nation's history. Sports are supposed to bring us together, but the use of these names keeps us apart. It is in the best interest for all American sports team to abolish the use of ignorant names that are reminiscent of the mistreatment of Native Americans in our nation’s history.

Since the mid-1900s, the questionable legacy of Native American names used as sports mascots has sparked debate across the United States. "After 81 years, the Washington Redskins name continues to hold the memories and meaning of where we come from, who we are, and who we want to be in the years to come," Washington’s NFL owner, Dan Snyder, declared when faced with condemnations of the controversial name. While many uphold Snyder’s statement, others are offended, and are determined to eliminate all team mascots with Native American symbolism. However, the Washington Redskins are not alone in the debate against Native American logos and mascots. Any sports team should be allowed to represent themselves by using Native American words.

“The Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies at California State University in San Bernardino surveyed 400 individuals, 98 of them Native Americans, and found that 67 percent of Native Americans agreed the "Redskins team name is a racial or racist word and symbol."” (Steele). Some mascots are offensive and racist to certain cultures and races. In, 2005, the NCAA banned schools with Native American mascots from hosting a national championship game (ProQuest Staff). Changing the mascot won’t change the history of the school or team. Some people feel unwelcome because of certain mascots. Some mascots should be banned because they are stereotypical, dishonor cultures, and are offensive.

In the last few year, one of the biggest controversies throughout the media was controversy over the Washington Redskins’ name. The Washington Redskins, a National Football League (N.F.L) team, has had their name as “Redskins” for eighty-one years. Then, a lot of critics say the team name itself has historical beginnings as a racist tag which is offensive to Native American while some arguments say in their context, “Redskins” is just the name that means respect and honor. Consequently, this controversy has become a study topic in many schools and colleges in term of what is the term of Redskins to Native American and how is the Redskins name offensive to American Indian?