No Mascots Are Offensive

“Go, team, go!” Cheering, representing, and maybe even dancing at halftime is Chief Illiniwek. He was the former mascot of the University of Illinois, but the “81-year tradition ended after years of threats, lawsuits and NCAA sanctions against the university's athletic teams. Chief opponents said the mascot was culturally insensitive to Native Americans, while supporters said it was an honorable tradition.” A mascot is defined as a person or a thing that is supposed to bring luck and represent a particular organization. Critics are saying that these Native American mascot names are offensive and it should be changed. Why should anyone be offended by that? The use of Indian Americans as a symbol for a team should be taken as a compliment.

In central Michigan, a tribe called the Saginaw Chippewas Indian Tribe actually supports Native American mascots. Saginaw Chippewas public relations director Frank Cloutier says, “Every year I go in and address every freshman athletic student about our culture and what it means to be a Chippewa, and about the proud, competitive nature of our people. We explain that it's not about war paint and fake feathers. It's about honoring the triumph of these resilient, competitive people.” Critics have forgotten about the Indian American culture. Yes, many years ago they were forced to leave their lands but they did put up a fight in attempt to keep their land. This shows that Indian American mascots, like the Chippewas, symbolizes competitiveness which is a reasonable name for any sports team. The Central Michigan Chippewas does not have a reason to be an insult, but the term “redskin” does in some way. Although the Saginaw Chippewas Indian Tribe supports Native American mascots, they only support the names such as “Warriors” or “Braves.” The Washington Redskins is considered highly offensive to many people, even to the tribe. But what people don't understand is that there is a difference between directly calling someone a redskin and having a mascot that is representing a popular team with thousands of fans! I understand it being offensive if there were racial slurs being thrown directly at someone, such as “yellow” or “negro” but in the case of team mascots, I don't understand. It shouldn't be considered as a violation. Thousands of fans are supporting that team by buying merchandise and paying extra money to sit in the front row to watch that team play. Not only should I mention there are tons of sports team with an Indian American mascot. Going to a football, basketball, or a volleyball game, there will be fans on each half side of the stadium supporting their favorite team. The Washington Redskins have over one million fans so imagine all of them wearing the team's mascot on their torso to bring luck to the team. There is nothing offensive about having a Native American mascot. It is there to bring positive things to the team.

A Washington Redskins fan

When we think of a mascot, we think of our school's mascot. It represents our school and the pride we have for our school. A mascot is someone or something that represents a team. No one should change their mascot because it was no one's intentions to hurt anyone in any way. Representing a team should be an honor and there are many people who support it. It is the year 2013 and people should calm down on how a Native American symbolic figure is insulting because to me, it isn't.