Native American Team Mascots a Slur or Honor to Native American People

Native American Team Mascots
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Native American team mascots a slur or honor to Native American peoples
The use of terms and images that depict the Native Americans as the mascot of a sports team is a contentious issue that dates back since the 1960s where there were numerous protests and actions by Native Americans and others focusing on the widespread use of such names and images by professional franchises. The opponent and proponents of the use of mascots by American teams have varied opinions. Opponents argue that the mascots perpetuate stereotypes that are negated by circumstance and history. The sporting teams have been in the forefront of perpetuating that stereotype by using Native Americans as mascots. For instance, Cleveland Indians feature a jovial Indian dubbed Chief Wahoo, which is condemned by Native Americans as a xenophobic caricature. Furthermore, they argue that the most offensive example of a mascot is the Harjo that is used by Washington’s football team. In fact, the term redskin that is used by Washington team has been defined as an offensive slang in most American English dictionaries. The term is regarded as a racial slur and the use of mascots has negative effect on the people and their self-identity. Charlete notes that word redskin was born out of hatred and posses dreadful history between the Native Americans and the colonizers from Europe who followed Columbus. Moreover, the proponents argue that the name was used against their people when they were chased away from their lands at gunpoint. The name was further used when their children were ejected from their homes and sent into boarding schools. The name holds a disgusting history and their joy would be when peop...