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SPORTS LOGOS

Community Problem Report: SPORTS ISSUES

The University of Texas at El Paso
ENGL 1311
November 4, 2016
Adrian Rodriguez

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SPORTS LOGOS
Abstract
Racist and stereotypical logos is one of the biggest and most important issues in sports
today. This problem has existed for more than a hundred years, since sports franchise have
existed. These racist logos have created huge controversies upsetting a large group of people.
Some of this logos have created protests in result of their stereotypical logo, some have even
gotten to court from various lawsuits that have been put on them from many groups of people or
organizations. Some teams have changed their team's name or logo, but quite a few have
remained the same, which this problem might remain unsolved for a long time.

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Offensive Sports Names and Logos
One of the biggest and most important issues in sports today would have to be that some

athletic teams have racist and stereotypical logos. In fact this problem is not new to sports, teams
have had racist names and logos for more than a hundred years, since sports franchise have
existed. These racist logos have created huge controversies upsetting a large group of people.
Some of this logos have created protests in result of their stereotypical logo, some have even
gotten to court from various lawsuits that have been put on them from many groups of people or
organizations. Some of these teams have changed their team's name or logo, but quite a few have
remained the same.
One team that has gotten a lot of attention and critics is a professional football team
named the Washington Redskins from the National Football League (NFL). This team has a very
offensive name, which has caused the Native American community to become very upset, and it
has also caused and ethnic stereotyping affecting Native American community. In fact an article
the International Business Times said that the Redskins are "regarded the most offensive name in
sports." (Thomas Barrabi). The Redskins name and logo created problems since the early 1960's,
since then more than 80 organizations and various people have aimed their efforts to have the
team change their name and logo. In June 2014 the Washington Redskins had a Trademark Trial
in order to remove its trademark rights for the Redskins to change their name and logo, but it has
been ruled in the favor of the Redskins. According to an article on International Business Times,
the Redskins "won't be forced to change his franchise's name." (Thomas Barrabi). This court
ruling means that the team doesnt have to change their name and logo, unless they whish to
change it.

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Another team that has caused a huge controversy in the public has to be a Major League
Baseball team, the Cleveland Indians. At first the Cleveland Indians had the name of the
"Cleveland Blues" or the "Cleveland Spiders" in the late 1800's and early 1900's. But with the
team's new owner in 1901, the team was renamed the "Cleveland Indians". The team's logo
"Chief Wahoo" was created in 1928 as has changed numerous times since then. "Chief Wahoo
most recent version has drawn huge criticism as an offensive racial caricature. The Cleveland
Indians history with their logo is very much alike to the one of the Washington Redskins, they
both have created a huge controversy, have drawn negative criticism, and both have also caused
protest throughout their logo's history. The only difference is that the Cleveland Indians changed
their logo in 2014 to the traditional "C", they have also done efforts to take most of the Chief
Wahoo logo in their merchandise. Even an article has informed us about some people's opinion,
"Yet some people and organizations are not fully satisfied as the Cleveland Indians only changed
their logo, but still have their racist name." (Angel Justin).
However, not every professional team that represents a Native American logo or name is
racist. A professional hockey team from Chicago named the Chicago Black Hawks, actually
honor a Native American who served in the military during the first world war. The team's name
"Black Hawks" represent the name of the tribe, while "Tommy Hawk" represents a soldier who
served in The Great War. In addition, the Black Hawks have a museum inside their arena where
they teach their visitors the history of the Black Hawk tribe and the history of the Native
American that served in the war. Also the Black Hawks sponsor events to help the community as
well as the Native American community. Some people regard the Black Hawks name and logo
racist, however members or descendants of the Black Hawk tribe have a positive opinion about
was is being done.

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There is a few professional teams that have actually changed their logos. For example the
Golden State Warriors from the NBA where once the Philadelphia Warriors, which they
resemble an Native American tribe from the Philadelphia area. But in 1962 the Warriors moved
to San Francisco, the Warriors played for a few years in a couple of cities around California. For
that reason they sought the chance to change their name and logo to the "Golden Gate Warriors"
in resemblance to the state of California. Another example is a team from the Major League
Baseball, the Atlanta Braves. The Atlanta Braves represent a Native American tribe in the
Massachusetts area, the team had a Native American person as a logo for a while and was later
changed in 1986, to just having "Braves" as their logo.
Racist logos dont only exist in professional sports, they are also found in universities and
high schools. Some example of a racist logo and name would be Notre Dame University, their
slogan is "the fighting Irish" and their logo is a leprechaun in a green suit. This is bad because it
creates a negative stereotype. that every Irish person always wants to fight and that they are
always dressed as a leprechaun. There is another university in Florida by the name of the Florida
State University which their mascot is the "Seminoles". In fact an article by the Washington
Post wrote " the NCAA plans to change Native American mascots" (Chuck). This problem
about the use of racist logos is also found here very close to us in the city of El Paso. There is a
high school in the El Paso area with the name of Ysleta High School which there logo is an
Indian. There has been meetings to have their logo changed, but was dismissed due to the lack of
attention.
Protest and organizations have been debating this issue of the use of racist logos in sports
since the early twentieth century and has not been completely solved, but it has made some
progress. Still this will be a very hard issue to fix since it has lasted for more than a hundred

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years. The use of racist logos for team sports exist from the professional teams to all the way to
high school teams, some athletic teams from professional level have fixed or have been working
in the effort of making a much more friendlier logo. The only way to help solve this issue is by
raising awareness and have people involved in organizations or events that have their efforts to
change the racist logos.

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References
Culpepper, Chuck. "Florida State's Unusual Bond with Seminole Tribe Casts Native
American Mascot Debate in a Different Light." Washington Post. The Washington Post,
n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

Angle, Justin. "New Research Shows How Native American Sports Mascots
Reinforce Negative Stereotypes." Raw Story. The Conversation, 13 Sept. 2016

Desta, Yohana. "9 Controversial Sports Mascots Throughout History." Mashable.

N.p., 03 Sept. 2014. Web.

Barrabi, Thomas. "Washington Redskins And The 5 Most Offensive Team Names
In Sports." International Business Times. N.p., 18 June 2014. Web.

Richards, Aaron Taube and Katie. "15 Racist Brand Mascots And Logos That
Make The Redskins Look Progressive." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 19
June 2014. Web.

Rhodes, Margaret. "The Unwavering Racism Of Native American Sports Logos."

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Co.Design. N.p., 14 May 2014. Web.

Tracy, Marc. "The Most Offensive Team Names in Sports: A Definitive Ranking."
New Republic. N.p., 09 Oct. 2013. Web.

Glantz. "Controversial Logos." Glantz Design. N.p., 15 Dec. 2014. Web.