As the American society continues to show their love for the great entertainment of sports, many people need to understand there is a large group of people who feel extreme discrimination in some instances that we consider entertainment. In today’s society, sports mascots have been placed under increasing fire by American Indians. A mascot representing an American Indian is very degrading to them in their long struggle for equality in America. Although America has made some progress in the fight against the use of native mascots, the long road still lies ahead in order to completely eliminate the usage of mascots portrayed as Indians. It appears to many people that sports mascots are honoring the Indians. However, this paper will prove that Native American mascots are a disgrace to their culture, create untrue stereotypes on America’s point of views, and keep them from achieving equal status with the rest of America.
Ever since Syracuse adopted the one of the first Indian mascots in the United States, their culture has been degraded . Understandably, an American Indian named Chief Bill Orange was responsible for creating the nickname the “Indians” (1). The intentions of this mascot were to honor the first Americans. Instead of giving them honor, the Indians have been portrayed as an uncivilized character, and seen as an object. Their religious chants have been mocked by the fans of “Indian” teams who have no understanding of what they mean. Wearing feathers and headdresses to an event is another way of making a mockery out of the culture.
Native Americans have been stereotypically portrayed as entertainment. People tend to see the culture of Indians as an uncivilized animal culture. At an area high school game in Wyoming, the team had the nickname the “Warriors”. The fans would chant “Let’s go Warriors, scalp ‘em, scalp ‘em” (2). These chants make the Indians appear as a group who captures and kills people for no reason at all. Along with the “Warriors”, the Atlanta “Braves” have provided a stereotype as well. The “Braves” fans chop their tomahawks during the game claiming they are strong and honoring the Indians. However, they are only creating a stereotype among us which portray Indians as nothing but an object out to kill something in the wilderness.
The stereotypes of Native Americans created by the sports fans are harmful to the American children (3). The media deserves a large load of the blame for this. Invented media images prevent millions of Americans from understanding the life of true Native Americans. Once a stereotype is established in a student’s mind, it makes it very difficult for children or people of any age to learn about the true Native Americans. That stereotype is engraved in their head through psychology’s unconditional stimulus and response (4). Most people have a certain false view of what an Indian should look like. Because of the displays that mascots use, we do not see regular people on the street as true Indians if they are. Most Americans would probably picture an everyday Indian as a feather-dressed man with weapons if they saw one walking down the street. This is how our culture has completely wiped out the American Indians as a part of our country, but rather a symbol of some sort of wild animal.
Native Americans have convinced a only a fraction of the United States sports teams to change their nicknames to a neutral mascot. As of the spring of 2001, there are still 67 college teams and 2853 high school teams in the United States who still hold an “Indian” related mascot (5). Our nation’s capitol even holds a professional football team by the name “Redskins”. It’s ashamed that a nation, based on equality for all people, has a discriminating mascot in its own capitol. Obviously, the discrimination of the Native Americans is being overlooked in all parts of the country. Americans still have a rather difficult time accepting the fact that Indians are true beings like the remainder of the country.
Our states and nation need to take bigger, faster, and better steps towards eliminating the use of Native American Mascots. These steps must begin at the capitol of our country, to step forward and set an example. As one student from Florida State University said, “...our honor of Native Americans has been a tradition that has been held for many years” (6). However, these actions are dishonorable acts, which can easily be ended. The traditions have not started until recently, but they can be handled very easily to be attacked and destroyed. As an alumni from a high school which formerly possessed the nickname “Indians”, I understand that traditions can be broken even for the better. These changes make the school a much more respected program by all people. It’s very unfortunate that our “Nation of Equality” has such a hard time accepting a different racial group as an equal human group to society. I’m afraid our nation will continue to see racial inequality from the Native Americans due to the non-neutral mascots presented to our society. Many long years lie in front of us before we see any signs of equality and acceptance of Native Americans.
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