Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteMoss
If we are really so worried about the Redskins name.... how is this not offensive and not a big topic?
If we want to use the whole 'blackskins' argument here - I'm sure if a crowd was dressed up like this and doing this type of dance/chanting it would go over well:
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Here's the thing, and I'm torn myself. I think we are being overly sensitive to using imagery of any Native American culture in sports. But the reason we are sensitive at all is because we have used it negatively by calling teams racial or arrogant slurs. No one is offended if we call Obama black, because it is referring to the pigment in his skin. If the States had a North American President, we most certainly would not be calling him 'red', because that is incredibly racist. We also wouldn't be calling him 'Indian', because it is arrogant.
But the opening kick-off at Arrowhead is only offensive if you are mocking their traditions. But they aren't, I would argue the KC fans love the culture and are celebrating it. They think it's really cool. I get that Aboriginals aren't going to be happy that the headdress and warpaint are a mis-representation of their culture, but it is taking a theme and paying homage to it in sports. Mock the fans for getting it wrong, but being offended about it really is overly sensitive. As an Irishman, I'm not going to stomp around Notre Dame in a huff... I chuckle at the fun they have had with a stereotype. And I think we'd mock any Irishman who really is shaken up over the Fighting Irish rituals and logo.
In the comments on that video, someone is upset that they are #NotYourMascot, but again... watering down the ACTUAL issue by attacking benign and misunderstood representations of your culture just blanked the entire problem in obscurity. That person also asks " If we would not manufacture and wear as an accessory the “purple heart,” or “merit stripes,” cause it looks cool, then why wear chicken feather’d headdress, and fake braided wigs at the game?" yet... the Columbus Blue Jackets are cool. They use the civil war theme and no one has absolutely any issue with it. So a team were a Purple Heart and merit stripes would be a part of the fan base shouldn't be offensive to anybody. As a culture, we are able to celebrate the meaning of the Purple Heart despite having a shirt with one printed on it; in the same way we can appreciate the honour of the headdress despite a Chief's fans getup. I'm really not going to confuse the two or have any kind of devaluation of their culture because of it.
The Washington Zulu would be cool! Why not? And why not integrate a Zulu dance into the teams celebration? The Washington N-words doing a Zulu dance? That would be wrong.
But again, I just wish we would stop watering down the whole debate. Every time I see it come up and people start bringing up College teams, the Blackhawks, the Chiefs, etc... it just ruins what needs to be fixed. If the question is "is the use of Native American imagery in sports offensive?" (which is all you are asking if you involve all teams), then the answer is no. If you ask "should we be using arrogant or otherwise offensive terms in team games?", then obviously the answer is no.