Native American Mascot Research Paper

Words: 1834
Pages: 8

Are Native American Mascots Really Racist?
There is an unsolved controversy in the world of sports regarding the use of mascots relating to Native American culture. Many sports organizations at all levels use these types of nicknames, and their beloved mascot may be taken away from them, or may have already been taken away from them. These teams and their fans never know what is going to happen to their team name, because the numerous similar cases that have been decided before have gone many different ways. For example, according to the Associated Press, the Florida State Seminoles were allowed to keep their name, while the University of North Dakota was forced to change their Fighting Sioux nickname (Taxin and Kolpack par. 3). The judicial courts and sports leagues need to come together so they can make it clear what is allowed and what isn’t. Native American mascots either need to be banned or not,
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1). Nowhere in this definition does it say that a mascot attempts to make fun of or demean a culture or a group of people. If a mascot is supposed to bring a team luck, then they must have some sort of respect towards that symbol. The American society is not so mean-spirited that it would create a symbol for a team just to make fun of an entire culture. Speaking as a relative of a Native American, Ellie Reynolds rants, “The entire purpose of a school mascot is to provide a single rallying symbol from which a community can celebrate unity. In this day of perpetual outrage, the suppression of these symbols will do little more than to further highlight the divide between Natives and everyone else” (par. 4). Not only does Reynolds think that these mascots should not be banned, she believes that if they are banned, the relationship between Caucasian Americans and Native Americans will become even