Stereotypes: The Effect Of Mascots And Sports Teams On Native Americans

The Effect of Racist Mascots and Sports Teams on Native Americans
Native Americans have had to deal with stereotypes, racism, and discrimination for hundreds of years and while many like to believe that racism over, it is still present in day to day life for many Native Americans. Using Native Americans as mascots or team names is harmful to Native American culture and representation as it normalizes racism and stereotypes towards Native Americans. The use of mascots and team names that reference Native Americans has helped to perpetuate negative stereotypes against Native Americans by appropriating their culture, and disregarding their opinions and views in favor of the dominant culture.
The use of team names and mascots that refer to Native

By naming a team after Native Americans an entire culture is being turned into nothing more than a sports team. When fans of the Indians are chanting in support of their team, it is most likely they are giving little to no thought about the oppression, racism, and triumphs the Native Americans went through. The culture of Native Americans is appropriated by sports fans as they turn the history of Native Americans into nothing more than a team name. In doing so, many often forget that the Indians or Redskins or Warriors are more than a sports team, they are real people with a real culture and real history. They died in gruesome battles fighting for their homes, they have thousands of years of history, all of which is turned into nothing more than a sports team or mascot. The Indian’s mascot, Chief Wahoo, is depicted with cartoonishly red skin, an over the top headdress, a large nose, and buck teeth (“Mascot Debate Adds New Thread”). Everything about Chief Wahoo is stereotypical towards Native

The owner of the Washington Redskins, Dan Snyder, has said that he would “NEVER--you can use caps” change the name of the Washington Redskins, his main reason being that the name holds great tradition for sports fans. (“Daniel Snyder Says Redskins Will Never Change Name”). Firstly, the word Redskin has been traditionally used as a slur against Native Americans and is seen as offensive by the majority of Native Americans. By saying he would never change the name, Snyder is effectively saying that the traditions of a sport team are more important than the oppression and racism Native Americans have had to face throughout history. Unfortunately, white men have put themselves before Native Americans and their history since Christopher Columbus arrived in America more than 500 years ago (“Argument Against Columbus Day”). Snyder’s refusal of a name change perpetuates the idea of a white man’s history and traditions being more valid than those of a Native American’s. In a recent poll, 79% of NFL fans said that they do not think the Redskins should change their name (“NFL Fan Poll”), despite the fact that 67% of Native Americans find the term “redskin” offensive (“Survey on Redskins Team Name”). This is problematic because it shows that while more than half on Native Americans find the term redskin offensive, the majority of NFL fans say they think the