Native American Mascots Research Paper

Offensive for Sports Teams to Use Native American Names and Mascots? Imagine you’re sitting in a stadium of screaming fans, all around you people are yelling their support, “Go Chiefs!” To some this is being considered a bad thing. It isn’t offensive for sports teams to use Native American names and mascots because it’s an honor to be a mascot and other groups of people are also symbolized by mascots. First off, the definition of a mascot is “An animal, person, or thing adopted by a group as its representative symbol and supposed to bring good luck” (Dictionary). A mascot is something people are proud of and rally behind, it’s an honor to be a mascot. Karl Swanson, vice-president of the Washington Redskins professional football team, declared in the magazine Sports Illustrated that his team's name "symbolizes courage, dignity, and leadership," and that the "Redskins symbolize the greatness and strength of a grand people.” (Wikipedia). In 2002 Sport Illustrated conducted a survey and found that 81% of Native Americans not living on a reservation and 53% of Native Americans living on a reservation didn’t find this discriminatory (Wikipedia). Many Native Americans don't have a problem with being a mascot.

Anil Adyanthaya, an attorney, wrote on June 5, 2005, "They are no different from other school nicknames such as Trojans and Spartans (like Aztecs, ancient peoples) or Fighting Irish and Flying Dutchmen (like Seminoles, nationalities). Similarly, Warriors and Braves are no different from the fighting men of other cultures, like Vikings, Minutemen, or Musketeers (all current NCAA mascots, the first of which is also an NFL mascot) so it seems hard to argue that their use is uniquely demeaning in some way.” (Wikipedia). I don't think we can consider it offensive to use Native American names and mascots without considering it offensive for all groups of people represented by