Sports Team Names - Insulting or Respectful?
Today in America, from elementary schools to high schools from colleges to professional league sports, we have given a mascot name to each. Nothing is meant by the mascot's name except to show pride and support for the team or school that you are behind and what qualities the people believe that team should hold. I believe that sports team names that are named after a certain ethnicity should not be changed, because in my opinion the names are not given to show disrespect. Some Native Americans seem to show resentment to names such as the "Indians," "Braves" and "Warriors." I was always brought up to believe that a mascot name was given to a team to exemplify the virtues that the team wishes to hold. When I heard of the Braves, for example, I never once thought of the team name as a disrespectful remark towards the Native Americans. I always thought of them as courageous, brave, resourceful and powerful people. Many of the American mascots that exist today are named after a number of things-animals, industries, and historical figures, some ethnically linked (2). We have the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, Green Pay Packers, Boston Celtics, Florida Marlins, and Minnesota Vikings just to name a few. These names are not me
Are there really that many Native Americans who find this offensive?In today's society there are many people who have different outlooks on certain subject matters. Would it be then that the botanists of America would find it offensive to the flowers? It sounds ridiculous, I know, but so does the whole situation. The team displays that of the Irish origin who no one finds offensive. The University of North Carolina - Pembroke, whose nick name is the Braves, shows yet another example of their mascot as a means for admiration. We respect and follow the Indians' expertise in the wild, borrow wholesale from their vocabulary (including thousands of place names, adopted by many states and cities), join "Indian Guides" with our children-and name our teams and ourselves after them (2). I agree with Roger Clegg, the names of the mascots are not meant to show disrespect, but the high regard for the great Native Americans that were a great part of America's history. Another leading example is how the Cleveland Indians got their name. Later in the 1940s, they came up with the nickname to illustrate the equality of the two (5). The school was established in 1887 to educate Native Americans. As I mentioned earlier, there are many team names that get their mascot from past historical figures. We cannot and should not be forced to change any and everything that one person finds offensive. He brought up that the Native American's should be more worried about bringing an end to the categorization of the Native American's and the alcoholism problem that they are stereotyped to have and finding jobs for the less fortunate of their "brothers" rather than worrying about the petty aspect of a mascot that is meant for reverential measures in sports. Not all Native American's find that using their heritage is a disrespectful motive. Being from Texas, I have gotten a lot of grief about riding my horse to school and living on a farm, all which symbolize a cowboy.
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