Native American Team Mascot Controversy by Najae Lamar

HONOR OR AFFRONT?

The Native American mascots that have been adopted by some professional sports teams are extremely offensive and racists. The names are making a mockery of the struggles Native Americans faced in the history of our country and the ones they continue to face by claiming that they stand for "strength, courage, and respect." Because the Native Americans possessed these qualities and didn't want to give up their homeland, they were unfairly forced to relocate. There is a great amount of irony in the Atlanta Braves team mascot considering that the Native Americans that resided in Georgia were pushed further and further West. They did not want the Native Americans to live here, yet they desire to have a Native American mascot. Being that there is a serious lack of Native American professional sports players, the "empowerment" of the names are questionable. The feelings of the Native American citizens towards these names were never thought about. How do the owners of teams with Native American mascots know if these citizens find them offensive?  A number of sports teams on the collegiate level such as St. John's and Marquette have come to the realization that the name are in fact offensive and have dropped their Native American mascots and have changed their team nicknames. Other schools such as Bradley and Illinois have retained their name, but dropped their Native American imagery. If other American sports teams have realized that these Native American mascots are offensive on the collegiate level, why are they continuing to be defended by professional sports team owners? The professional sports teams such as the Washington Redskins should make these changes as well. The process of making American sports respectful to everyone is something that should be done collectively by all divisions of American sports. The NFL is the most popular sports league in America. Millions tune in every week to watch their favorite teams play and hundreds of millions throw parties or crowd in bars to watch the Superbowl. Because the NFL has a very diverse fan base, the team names should reflect this and not be offensive to anyone. It is now 2013 and there is no reason that there should still be discussions on whether things that are nationally known are racist. If there were a team mascot that was offensive to Caucasian people, the name would have been changed almost instantly. It is not fair for a National sports association to simply ignore the opinions of the people who

are directly impacted by their team's name. However, it is understandable how someone would not think that Native American team mascots are racist. None of the teams are intentionally doing anything to offend anyone who is of Native American descent. In fact the only thing that even relates any of the teams to Native American culture is the mascot. Changing the name could somewhat spoil the tradition of a team such as the Redskins. If there are not any personal attacks against Native Americans why change the name? With all of this in mind, I still feel that the names are offensive to the many hardships faced by Native Americans in our country's history. Perhaps some Native American citizens should be consulted on their opinions of these team mascots. If everyone is in agreement that the names are not offensive then they should remain the same. However, if anyone of Native American descent objects then the team mascots should be changed.