Native American Mascots and Why They Should’ve Vanished Years Ago
I can’t believe I’m writing about this in 2017. But since it’s Native American Heritage month, let’s shed a little more light on the subject, hopefully burning it to the point of nonexistence.
When we think of the Native American Mascot Controversy, we think of the following two misrepresentations:
· The Washington Redskins
· The Cleveland Indians, mainly the “Chief Wahoo” logo
Let’s talk about the nationally known football team: The Skins. Back in 1933, the co-owner of the team George Preston Marshall had to change the name to the Washington Redskins. This was in honor to coach William Henry “Lone Star” Dietz, whose identity as being Native American was controversial. I guess this makes me ask three important questions. First of all, why would he name the entire football team the Redskins when the
coach he was honoring might not have even
been a Native American? Second of all, why did he feel the need to use a term known as being derogatory slang towards Native Americans? What does that say about his character? Third of all, 1933 subtracted from 2017 is 84. For 84 years, through multiple protests and movements for changing the name to a less culturally appropriating term, can someone tell me why no one has CHANGED THE NAME?!
Now let’s bring it back to the good old state of Ohio. Granted the Cleveland Indians don’t
have as a derogatory name towards the native American culture, so I definitely thought their intentions were a tiny bit less demeaning. Then, I discovered the friendly looking cartoon caricature featured on most of their merchandise: Chief Wahoo. In 1947, Walter Goldbach, an employee of the Novak Company hired to design the team logo, was asked to create a mascot that “would convey a spirit of pure joy and unbridled enthusiasm.” He then created the earlier version of Chief Wahoo with yellow skin and a very prominent nose. As time passed, instead of someone recognizing the controversy at hand that Chief Wahoo was causing, we ended up with a reskinned portrayal of an American Indian. This very racist cartoon Indian is the face of their brand, and everyone can recognize who is
represented by it. In 2014, a big red block “C” took the status of the primary logo. I guess that could count as effort to appear less racist, but the caps they wore with the uniform still had the Chief Wahoo logo on it, making everyone confused about the point they were trying to make. In a nutshell, there was an “effort” to change their logo, but no progress was actually made.
Let’s protect the heritage of the people who shouldn’t have to face these racist stereotypes. It’s not like these misrepresentations as mascots are helping anyone become better at the sport they are involved in, so what’s the harm?
