Analysis Of Indian Mascots You Re Out By Jack Shackley

In the article "Indian Mascots - You're out" that was written by Jack Shackley appeared in L.A. Times on August 25, 2011. The author argues that college and professional teams should remove negative or derogatory images of ethnic groups as mascots. He wrote this article due to the fact that Native Americans began to protest at the stadiums in which they felt were being stereotypical.
This article can be divided into four sections. In the first section of the article the author begins with a firsthand experience that allowed him to see his Native American heritage being slandered through the use of logos and mascots without actually realizing it due to the fact that he was only 10 years of age. During a Cleveland Indians verses New York Yankees

He was unsure as to which hat to pay for because his favorite player was on the Yankees but he was of Native American decent so he was torn between the two. Upon his arrival back home his mother was astonished by the mascot on the hat. The author said that he could see the displeasure and fury in his mother’s eyes. She instantly snatched it off his head and threw it in the trash. In the second section Shackley discusses a new editorial regarding the University of North Dakota a half century later. The legislators of the state began to ponder if it was time for the University to change its mascot which was the Fighting Sioux. The author then went on to say that majority of the teams or universities treated it as if it was nothing major or as if it was an honor to the Native American people . Some felt that since the mascot had been around for so such an ample amount of time that if it was changed the team or school would lose some of its rich history. In the third section of this article Shackley explains about the Native Americans that had a problem with the names and images of the mascots. He stated that during the early 90's a

I agree with the author’s thesis that "college and professional teams should remove negative or derogatory images of ethnic groups as mascots.” One of the main reasons I agree with the author due to the fact that the images are very stereotypical to the Native American culture and shows that they are still seen in limited ways by others in this country. With this being the case some of the Native Americans may begin to see themselves in a different light since the world is portraying them to be war-like savages. The author creates an image using the Atlanta Braves in which he went on to demonstrate that it wasn’t the name that made people mad but it was the actions of the mascots of the team. They portrayed Indian’s as if they were a group of barbaric people when in truth they were really a bunch of proud, brave, and dedicated individuals. Another reason is because in an article written by Dan Solomon he stated that “Lamar High School football boosters who have no problem spending a lot of money on the team who are going to decry this as a waste.” (Solomon 2) They felt that the Redskins name was suitable and shouldn’t be changed. Probably the majority of the schools boosters are alumnae of Lamar High School and I believe they feel as if the school isn’t the same anymore because the