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Jada Edwards
Karen Kumpulainen
English 111
27 April 2014
Ethnic Mascots: Harmless or Disrespectul!
"ports are an e#er$da$ thing in American societ$% Most o the time& when we
thin' o sports we thin' o wild ans& suspenseul games& and raging mascots% "ome o
the mascots are t$pical& or instance the (rowling (anthers& or )he *ighting +lue De#ils%
)hen& there are mascots that are stereot$pical and demeaning& li'e the Atlanta +ra#es&
the *lorida "tate "eminoles% )hese mascots& unli'e the rest& are imitating an actual
group o people& not ,ust animals% -sing a costume o an .ndian to represent a team
reduces an entire group o people to ,ust a mascot% .t is dehumani/ing and oensi#e%
Ja'e "ha'el$0s essa$& 1.ndian Mascots223ou0re 4ut56 clearl$ states his opinion on the
topic% )he use o ethnic mascots in collegiate& proessional& or an$ le#el sport or that
matter& is disrespectul& stereot$pical& and altogether wrong& and should 7e 7anned%
Man$ people that are ad#ocates o the use o ethnic mascots in sports argue that
the mascots represents pride& respect& and appreciation or the .ndian societ$% )his
could 7e true& 7ut how do raging& angr$& out o control mascots li'e 8hie 9oc2A2Homa&
ormer mascot o the Atlanta +ra#es& represent the .ndian societ$ in a positi#e wa$!
According to "ha'le$& the mascot 1acted li'e a #illage idiot%6 :;<%4 course& not all 9ati#e
Americans act this wa$& 7ut that is how the$ are portra$ed when ethnic mascots act li'e
this% . these mascots are supposed to 7e representations o how much the$ are
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respected& the$ should act in a respectul manner& not li'e 1ools or sa#age cutthroats&6
as "ha'el$ descri7es them in paragraph se#en o the essa$%
"ha'el$ points out man$ dierent e=amples o wh$ the use o .ndians as
mascots are wrong% He e=plained that he went to a 8le#eland .ndians game% He 7ought
a hat rom the game& and on it the mascot was drawn out to 7e a 1leering& 7ig2nosed&
7uc'2toothed reds'in6 .ndian :2<% )he mascot oended his mother& who was>is o .ndian
descent& so it most li'el$ oended other .ndians% According to the team logo& the .ndian
wasn0t an actual person& it was an animal or some sort o character% )he depiction o the
.ndian was no dierent than the depiction o Jews during the Holocaust& or Arican2
Americans during sla#er$ or the 8i#il ?ights Mo#ement% .t is also disgusting that there is
a collegiate le#el sports team still around toda$ who0s mascot is the ?eds'ins% )hat is
no dierent than ha#ing a mascot called the +rownies& reerring to a 7lac' man& or the
8rac'ers& reerring to whites% )his is em7arrassing& disrespectul& and rude%
E#er$ .ndian mascot that "ha'el$ mentions in the essa$ is dressed up as the
stereot$pical .ndian% Each one is a tomahaw'2wearing& .ndian2ritual shouting warrior%
@hen is American societ$ going to reali/e that not all 9ati#es are li'e this! )hese are
all stereot$pes that remain in the American imagination% How oten do $ou actuall$ see
a 9ati#e American wearing the e=tra#agant headdresses and 7eaded ,ewelr$!
Americans ha#e de#eloped a ha7it o determining what 9ati#es should act and loo' li'e&
and it has ta'en o#er our perception o 9ati#e Americans% .ndians ind the wa$ that we
depict their culture oensi#e& as the$ should% American sports teams are not 9ati#e
American& so the$ ha#e no right to decide what is oensi#e and what is not%%
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"ha'el$ ma'es #er$ #alid points in his essa$& 1.ndian Mascots223ou0re 4ut56& and
. agree with all o them whole2heartedl$% @e& as Americans& need to put oursel#es in the
9ati#es0 shoes and thin' a7out how we would eel i our cultures were made into ,ust
mascots% )he$ are wrong& demeaning& and uncalled or%
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@or's 8ited
"ha'el$& Ja'e% A)he 4ngoing .ssue o 9ati#e Mascots%A )he ?eal Bie o An American
.ndian% 9%p%& 2; Dec% 2011% @e7% 27 Apr% 2014%