Native American names and mascots are nicknames that have been used since a long time ago concerning sports and teams. This was a controversial topic in the first world concerning the civil rights of the citizens. Mascots were used as a branding element for teams in the beginning. As time went by, it has shown that not only the branding has to be represented, but the baseline argument and emotional aspects concerning the mascots. For a long time in the ’60s, there was a protest against the names and images, and others have gained insight into the use of such prominent names as Cleveland. This influential style of mascots and names has been a trend for school sports and college teams. Compared to recent decades, the number of teams with mascots and names has increased extremely, but this issue has not been looked at widely. The issue has been looked at at the local level. Statewide, laws and policies have been put in place to change the trend. The states have pushed for a proper environment for quality education. This has been resisted since many of the American society claimed to be attacking the local community (“Native American mascots.”2012).
In the early times, organizations were put in place to fight mascots and names, together with the Civil Rights Commission, against discrimination of stereotypes that cause harm to the present day. The same mascots were a threat to cultural appropriation, and they violated indigenous intellectual property. It has been seen that the native American has increased since the native culture of the majority society continues its dominance. The other small society is colonized and oppressed by the larger group.
The defenders of this ban state that the native American should be used in a positive term to showcase fighting spirits and braveness in society. Advocates insist that this native American ignores extensive harm on stereotypes and biases. In different states, laws have been kept in place to act as watchdogs for this enormous behavior. In California, the governor signed a law to protect the public schools from native Americans and mascots. This law targeted the name “Redskins” which was prominent in public schools. The law stated that racially discriminatory nicknames in public schools are antithetical to California schools to provide equal education (“Effect of exposure to an American Indian mascot on the tendency to stereotype a different minority group.”45).
In Massachusetts, a bill was introduced in the legislature to amend the use of Native American names and mascots in the Commonwealth in public schools. The law was looking at any imagery that depicted an Asian American tribe, individual, or custom that is used by the public school as a mascot.
Michigan educational board was against the use of Native American mascots, songs, nicknames, and descriptors by Michigan schools. In Michigan, the state created a heritage fund to equip the law for changes in the gaming compact. The attorney general was requested to fine schools that refused to eliminate native names and mascots. The advocates argue that this is degrading cultural insensitivity. The ban on this enormous behavior could be dealt with only by the national government and the states to create a bill that could see the trend change.
In opposition to the ban on Native American mascots, they say that the nicknames are in sports, such as recreational performances, and not serious involvement. Mascots are important and related to sports and community fans. The mascots play a big role in sports for identifying teams in a league. Mascots largely identify symbols for certain clubs and teams. Mascots relate more to team history and fan community. In America, mascots are worn when a team wins compared to the one that loses. Fans tend to change a team symbol, but this may lose the history of a team’s identity and fan community. The mascots should be used in games only to preserve that unique culture instead of making it public nationwide (A Documentary Survey of American Indian History”2015).
Mascots are not always regarded as negative exposure for sports teams. An analysis was conducted to view what students in high thought about the mascots. The analysis involved reading about mascots and filling in a questionnaire. The analysis showed that most of the students lacked self-esteem as well as identity worth concerning American natives. The students were also asked to write how they viewed their lives in the future. The students who had experience with mascots had a variable of achievement language in their writing compared to the controlled students. The data from the analysis showed that Native American communities are appreciated positively by the locals. The study shows that the students in these schools with mascots concluded that there are negative consequences to these mascots when asked. Even when this is a good gesture for motivating a team name, such good intentions are not satisfying to bring good outcomes. American Indian mascots have no negative consequences since their meaning is inherently negative (“Effect of exposure to an American Indian mascot on the tendency to stereotype a different minority group.”540).
Work Cited
Calloway, Colin G. First peoples: A documentary survey of American Indian history. Macmillan Higher Education, 2015.
Castillo, Susan. “Native American mascots.” (2012).
Kim‐Prieto, Chu, et al. “Effect of exposure to an American Indian mascot on the tendency to stereotype a different minority group.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 40.3 (2010): 534-553.
King, C. Richard, ed. The Native American mascot controversy: A handbook. Scarecrow Press, 2010.
Leavitt, Peter A., et al. ” Frozen in Time”: The Impact of Native American Media Representations on Identity and Self‐Understanding.” Journal of Social Issues 71.1 (2015): 39-53.
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