Argument Writing

Description of Assignment: This essay was meant for us to argue if it is appropriate ( discrimination or honor) to use the Native American race as a mascot for sports teams.

Cole Elicker

Native American Mascots A Racist Tradition That Needs to Stop

In the US there are over 2,000 teams with Native American mascots. There are many different Native American mascots. A few examples are The Washington RedSkins in football and the Cleveland Indians in baseball. A major issue with using Native American mascots is that many people, including Native Americans, think it is racist. Many people want these mascots to be totally eliminated. The use of Native American mascots is racist for several reasons: it stereotypes them as violent savages, the team names sometimes contain racial slurs, and they stereotype all Native Americans like a cartoon character.

First, mascots stereotype Native Americans in ways they do not want to be stereotyped. This claim is true because Native Americans are portrayed as bloodthirsty savages and killers, and they do not want to be portrayed that way. For example, ̈They dance, they drum, they go on the warpath ̈.(Native American Mascots: Pride or Prejudice Paragraph 46) This suggests that Native Americans are violent and war hungry. The stereotype of being savages also suggests they are unintelligent and simple. Another example is that at Florida State University there is a ritual of a white man putting on war paint, riding a horse into the field and throwing a burning spear while ̈The marching band plays Indian themed music, and the crowd goes wild doing the ̈tomahawk chop ̈ ̈(Native American Mascots: Pride of Prejudice Paragraph 17) This means the crowd 1supports the idea of Native Americans scalping people as central to the idea of being a Native American. Both of these examples of Native American imagery are racist and violent.

Second, the names of many of the teams can be seen as racist. More specifically the Washington Redskins team name is widely considered to be racist. According to Merriam Webster Unabridged online dictionary the term Redskin is ̈usually offensive ̈ “Let's be clear. The name, the R word, is defined in the dictionary as an offensive term. It's a racial epithet. It's a racial slur.¨( A slur or ́honor ́? Controversey heightens about Washington Redskins Paragraph 19) This means calling a team the Redskins would be similar to calling a team the negros or any similar racial slur. Similarly, the leader of the Oneida Indian Nation started the term Redskins, ¨...origin is hatred, use is hatred, it was the name of our people-- that was used against our people when we were forced off our land at gunpoint.¨( A slur or ́honor ́? Controversy heightens about Washington Redskins Paragraph 21) It is logical to assume, that terms used in a hateful way are insulting. Therefore sports teams should not use language that is offensive to Native Americans.

Lastly people are stereotyping all Native Americans as being the same even though there are many different ways of life, and many tribes. One example of this is that mascots often have red skin and stereotypical clothing. For example Sterling HolyWhiteMountain who lives on the Blackfeet Reservation states “We’re aware that Indian people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and attitudes.” ( The great failure of the Indians mascot debate/ Thinking of it only as racism Paragraph 3) This should be an obvious statement that regardless of race, all people are different. Further, he says, “There is a palpable distance between the falsehood of the stereotype and our lived experience; wahoo is overcome by the reality of real Indians…” ( The great failure of the Indians mascot debate/ Thinking of it only as racism Paragraph 3) Again this means Native Americans are a widespread group of people that cannot be summed up by stereotypes. Overall it’s insulting to any group of people to say that they are all the same.

In conclusion there are many teams with Native American mascots and most of them have a racist aspect to them. Some of the reasons they are racist are that they use inappropriate names such as the Redskins, they stereotype all Native Americans into one category, and finally they stereotype them in some ways that may be offense. The way that people can help this cause is by protesting at schools that have Native American mascots and don’t have approval from tribes. Don’t let racism stand, especially not with the people that were here in the US first.

Reflection: I think this essay improved my writing skills a lot. It taught me how to cite my sources, annotate a lot better / gather the information I need to write the essay from the articles, and it taught me new vocabulary I can use for argumentative writing. The first thing I did was the body paragraphs. That is because it is much easier to develop the intro and conclusion paragraphs after you know your reasons and have background information on the topic. I did one paragraph per day. I stayed organized by printing out all of the articles I was working with then annotating it and finding key ideas and details that supported my claim. The C that I had growth in during this assignment was cultural competence. I learned a lot how Native Americans felt about this issue and other issues in general. Overall I think it was a very educational and fun assignment to do.