The Negative Implications Of Cultural Appropriation

Native Americans symbols and culture exemplify the things that we admire in our athletes strength, endurance and courage. However ,the way that we use these symbols can be offensive and hurtful to the very people that we want to honor. In this paper , I will discussed how teams are mocking and being disrespectful to the Native American culture.

Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of elements in one culture by members of another culture. There has been a lot of cultural appropriation throughout the years. Lately, many people have been noticing it more often. One of the largest issues in the cultural appropriation that has hit the media lately is hair. There have been many white celebrities who have been culturally appropriating Black hairstyles. The most recent have been the Jenner/Kardashian sisters. On the other hand, some believe the same goes for vice versa; African-Americans have been appropriating White culture. One example can be Malcolm X. He even wrote a speech about how he realized that wearing a conk made him look more “White” and he felt he was trying to be exactly that. Recently, that idea has changed. Many people believe that it is only cultural appropriation when a White person does it. This social issue has been a large debate on whether White people are culturally appropriating Black culture by wearing traditionally Black hairstyles.

or the other is not looked upon as politically incorrect or wrong-minded. However, it allows

Racial and cultural appropriation has become increasingly significant in society within the past 30 years. “The idea of “cultural appropriation” has recently entered mainstream

“To remember who you are, you will need to forget what society has tried to teach you to be...culture matters. Be proud.” These words from an unknown Native American about one major subject: Native American culture. The beliefs of Native culture have been with Native people for as long as they have lived. They believe in sacred acts that have supported and healed Natives and better their heritage. Then Whites began to make American Indian mascots to “honor” Natives. They have had a purpose to honor Natives, but have recently shown a bias towards Natives. Over the past 30 years, there has been a national argument between non-natives and Natives as to whether school and professional sports teams should use Native American imagery as their mascots,

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.

Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of the elements of one culture by members of another culture. Cultural appropriation is portrayed as rude, called cultural misappropriation, and claims to be a violation of the history of a culture. Often unavoidable when cultures come together, cultural appropriation can include using another culture's traditions, such as fashion, symbols, language, and cultural songs without permission. Even though society consistently uses Native American and African American styles at festivals, in magazines and on celebrities, this form of cultural appropriation is not right because we are not using it for the right reasons.

Other accounts of assimilation can be seen in the majority of minorities in the United States, without representation or credibility of the roots in which it stems from. Cultural appropriation is becoming a popular aesthetic outlet. Pop culture is thriving at the hands of theft, and people are neglecting the recognition of historical context and customs of minorities.

American Indians in Sports Have one ever felt the feeling of a packed stadium, fans screaming your name; the feeling one might get as a Roman Gladiator. You practice and practice to prove your self on the weekend competition. However, once you achieve your goal to becoming the best in your sport, and the entire world knows your name, you are once again invisible. Only seen for the color of your skin because the paper refers you and your community as “Redskins.” You are left with two choices either to adopted or adapted to the dominant culture name giving to your self-identity.

The Use of Native American symbols in sports: Respect or Ridicule Native Americans symbols and culture exemplify the things that we admire in our athletes strength, endurance and courage. However ,the way that we use these symbols can be offensive and hurtful to the very people that we want to honor. In this paper , I will discussed how teams are mocking and being disrespectful to the Native American culture. There is is a long history of Native American team names in professional, collegiate, and high school athletics. Professional Teams names include: Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins.

In Western culture, people seldom realize the amount of cultural appropriation that occurs around them. Westerners are blinded by cultural mockery and cultural appropriation without realizing its offensive effects to minority groups. During the Halloween holiday, in Western culture, people of all ages dress up in a variety of costumes such as horror themed, fairy tale themed, job themed, cultural themed and much more. Harvard University members have argued that a cultural themed costume is a form of cultural appropriation. Also in Western culture, in the music industry, white artists have utilized and exploited aspects from minority cultures to boost their fame. Costumes, props, ideas, music, and others considered as cultural appropriation is often overlooked but it is apparent when closely examined.

Another example of this kind of cultural appropriation is exemplified in a more contemporary example: Lana Del Rey’s music video for her song entitled “Ride.” This music video features Del Rey riding through what is presumable the expansive West while being with men, burning fires in the western desert, and sporting a traditional Native American headdress. While this example also conflates the same issues as the above example, it also brings on a new problem: taking a sacred cultural emblem and using it for stylistic

Cultural appropriation is the adoption or theft of icons, customs, beliefs, or styles from one culture or subculture by another. McWhorter argues,“But what began as a legitimate complaint has morphed into a handy way of being offended by something that should be taken as a compliment.”(McWhorter 1)A multitude of people may believe when there is adoption of one culture it should be seen as a compliment as well because they are appreciating the culture by imitating it into their own. “It used to be that we said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But now there is new way to see the matter: Imitation is a kind of dismissal.” But if not fully understandingthe significance of what is being adopted then to the owning culture it is seen as appropriating and not appreciating. If it was indeed appreciating, time would be taken out to fully understand what and why the culture indulges in the custom or belief and so on. Just noticing a particular act of item in a culture and putting it into your own without the proper

The gap in racial equity is represented by the adamant grip professional sports teams hold on their ethnic marketing symbols. The advancement of society has always come about through political and social courage. Today this notion should be applied to professional sports, where racial inequality, cultural norms, and social practices are not only accept but also encouraged, permitting racism to permeate society. In relation to harmful native exemplifications, these offensive representations remain active in sports today. As society continues to perpetuate harm through these cultural practices, racial and social equity for Native people will remain inconceivable. According to the publishers of Harmful “Indian” Sports Mascots, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) states: “to truly honor Native peoples and their unique historical and contemporary place in American society, leaders, citizens, and even sports fans must step forward and act to end harmful ‘Indian’ mascots once and for all”

Cultural appropriation is a huge topic, within today’s society, many question what is cultural appropriation and what is not. The definition of cultural appropriation is, “....the use of ideas, symbols, artifacts, images, objects, etc., derived from contact between different cultures. It often implies a negative view towards the minority culture by the dominant one and is often culturally insensitive”(Biron). Examples of cultural appropriation would be portraying a culture through stereotypical depictions of them or wearing a culture as a ‘trend’. Another example would be wearing a headdress to portray a Native American or wearing a sombrero and a poncho to depict a Mexican. Just those words sound degrading and racist each of these ethnicities. Many think it is socially acceptable to be insensitive to a culture, because they classify the appropriation as them appreciating the culture. Cultural appropriation shows only the stereotypical view of culture and has no regards to the actual culture. Many look at the cultures as inspiration for ideas, but that does not mean to steal the ideas completely. Cultural appropriation is not only insensitive, but also racist. Blackface, for example, was used to portray an African American by painting the face of an non-black actor black. The NFL team Redskins uses an offensive and racist word to label their team; their mascot is a “Native American” wearing headdress. First and foremost, not all Native American cultures wear headdresses, these depictions of Native culture show natives as all the same. Minorities have faced appropriation for decades, but why did this problem only recently come about?