Is it offensive to use Native American names for sports teams? Depends on your standpoint, and the team name. These teams include the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, and the Chicago Blackhawks. Some people call these names racist for stereotyping Indians. Looking at the names or logos, they don’t look or sound racist. So, we will look into these names to see if they are racist or not. The Washington Redskins. It is like the boy who cried wolf, but the protesters are crying foul. The thing is, no matter who you are, you stereotype everyone all the time. Most of2 the people who fight against the name, aren’t even Native American. We don’t ask what the Native Americans themselves think. In 2015, “Roy Hawthorne, the Navajo Code Talkers leader said, ‘the team name is a symbol of loyalty and courage - not a slur as asserted by critics who want it changed’” (Mene par. 6), pretty much proving that you can’t make assumptions on what other people think. The Cleveland Indians have been under fire for their mascot, Chief Wahoo, for some time. People think that their logo and mascot are racist, even though the logo is a staple of the baseball world. The red of the skin might be overdone, but it is to match the team colors they have had for a long time. Now people are starting to use excuses to accuse the Indians such as, “This is exactly two things: money and brand equity” (Notte par. 5). Money may be a small reason, brand equity too, but so many baseball fans have grown a liking to the logo. It would be hard to part with the logo after so many years. It would be hard to change the logo, creating a new one tailored towards their name and team colors would be difficult. The Chicago Blackhawks hockey team has been called out for their logo and team name. Both their team name and their logo honors a real Native American, Black Hawk. People tend to think that “Blackhawk” refers to the Native Americans as a whole. This team name isn’t racist as it refers to a popular historical figure. A lot of people are fine with their name and logo as it is used scarcely. Tim Baffoe said, “'The Hawks don’t use a caricature or slur that other teams have come under fire for. In fact, there is almost zero Native American ‘stuff’ used by the organization other than just their very famous logo. I don’t mind the Blackhawks Indian head logo. Hell, I’d say it looks pretty bad ass'” (Why is the Chicago Blackhawks par. 5). After looking into the three teams, you can see what parts of the logo or name of the team are racist or not. In conclusion, the Redskins’ logo is perfectly fine. The name can be racist from some perspectives, but it is no different from calling Africans or African-Americans black, or Caucasians white. The Cleveland Indians name itself is fine, but the logo with the almost comically red skin is more racist than not. And to finish it off, nothing is wrong about the Chicago Blackhawks’ name or logo. Making sports teams that have names or logos based off of Native American heritage are not racist, the way the logo is colored or exaggerated, and id if the name is a slur, makes it racist. War War is a terrible thing, but is essential to keep balance.
War can be bad, or it can be good. What we don't realize is how war effects the poeple who we are fighting. Regardless of what we think about war, war is usually for the best. War changes us by how it effects the world we live in.
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