Use of Native American Imagery in Sports

[metallicat]

I think the Eskimos should just make the change already. To hell with their market research in northern Canada. Just do it already. I think teams that are still dragging their heels are already way behind the 8-ball. At this point they can barely save face but it's better than leaving the names alone.

[MrMike]

Originally Posted by metallicat

I think the Eskimos should just make the change already. To hell with their market research in northern Canada. Just do it already. I think teams that are still dragging their heels are already way behind the 8-ball. At this point they can barely save face but it's better than leaving the names alone.

As much research as they do, there is still going to be a minority who is offended. So just make the change. Doing research is like saying there is a reasonable number of people that is allowed to be offended and they are seeing if they meet that threshold.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by MrMike

As much research as they do, there is still going to be a minority who is offended. So just make the change. Doing research is like saying there is a reasonable number of people that is allowed to be offended and they are seeing if they meet that threshold.

Agreed. Our society has been trending in such a way where these things are increasingly becoming less tolerable. If you need to do market research into this sort of thing, it is probably a good sign that there is an issue. There shouldn't be any question.

Would franchises really lose a lot of money or fans if they changed their branding? If anything, I would think there would be a huge surge in merchandise sales.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

So with regard to the Eskimos in particular, what if they were called the Edmonton Inuit?

I think one of the problems is still that it is one culture appropriating another’s.

If Notre Dame came up with their name due to it’s strong ties with Irish community or because the organization was mainly Irish, that’s one thing, but a team with no ties at all is another. Who came up with the name for the Red Skins or Blackhawks?

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I think one of the problems is still that it is one culture appropriating another’s.

If Notre Dame came up with their name due to it’s strong ties with Irish community or because the organization was mainly Irish, that’s one thing, but a team with no ties at all is another. Who came up with the name for the Red Skins or Blackhawks?

Precisely. Additionally, that culture been persecuted towards the verge of extinction.

It is part of the complexity of understanding cultural legacy and its impacts.

The cultural amnesia First Nations communities experience from residential schools and cultural homilies is tragic.

It also exemplifies & amplifies how horrific the realization that black Americans contemplate upon realization that they have variable skin complexions because their ancestors originated on in different areas of a different continent and were sexually assaulted by white slave owner/ancestors who sold off their own “illegitimate” children on slave markets.

[Sandman]

I've been told my whole my whole life that the term "Eskimo"was offensive to them, and that they preferrred the term "Inuit". Not sure who they are asking about it...

[shogged]

Originally Posted by getbak

e=ng

[Crown Royal]

Originally Posted by Sandman

I've been told my whole my whole life that the term "Eskimo"was offensive to them, and that they preferrred the term "Inuit". Not sure who they are asking about it...

Preferring Inuit doesn't mean they are offended by Eskimo. I've met very few Inuit people offended by the term Eskimo. In fact some bands actually prefer use the term Eskimo and still us it in their name.

It's like how white folks decided it wasn't okay to call us black, and replaced it with "African American", despite not all black people being African. Most of these changes in terms are virtue signalling due to white guilt and don't actually come from people of color.

As long as the Eskimos aren't using a caricature as a mascot, which they don't (I believe it's a polar bear?), I think they are in pretty good shape and in the same category as the Seminoles.

[David Struch]

If we were Inuit, I don't think any of us would appreciate being called an Eskimo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo

[N-E-B]

Of all the controversial names I can’t believe Redskins has flown for this long. That name was the one name that always stuck out to me for all the wrong reasons.

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

Of all the controversial names I can’t believe Redskins has flown for this long. That name was the one name that always stuck out to me for all the wrong reasons.

No doubt.

https://indiancountrytoday.com/archi...VECg2scBdrVtAA

Chris Rock: ‘Redskins? That’s not Nice. That’s a Racial Slur’
Comedian Chris Rock knew the word Redskins was a racial slur long before half of the U.S. Senate did, and perhaps, even President Obama.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

What about the Washington Swamp Monsters?


Home

Away

Too terrifying!!

[Crown Royal]

I posted this in the thread about Floyd, but I expect if Washington does change their team name, it will be to the Pigskins

[Lego Man]

Originally Posted by Crown Royal

I posted this in the thread about Floyd, but I expect if Washington does change their team name, it will be to the Pigskins

That's offensive to animals.

[Boreal]

If the Redskins name wasn’t still in use, the use of the Fleur dis lis by the Saints would seem insane.

https://centralrecorder.org/62445/op...ge-their-logo/

The fleur-de-lis had many uses, but the most sinister was in the slave trade. The fleur-de-lis was used to brand slaves, like cattle, as discipline for attempting to escape. The practice took place not just in Louisiana, but French settlements around the world. The symbol was branded on slaves so if they did escape, there would be no mistaking to whom they belonged.

[Redliner]

Originally Posted by nobles_point

If the Redskins name wasn’t still in use, the use of the Fleur dis lis by the Saints would seem insane.

I think this is a bit of a stretch. The Fleur-de-lis is a symbol that is literally thousands of years old and is used on dozens of flags worldwide. Although it often represents the Holy Trinity, I believe in this context it represents Catholic saints and New Orleans' French heritage.

As with any symbol that has been around for that long, (and sadly, especially ones closely tied to religion) it has been used for nefarious purposes from time to time but I would argue that it is hardly synonymous with slavery. I guess if we look hard enough we can find something bad in just about anything, but I think there are far bigger fish to fry at the moment.

[RM14]

Is there no anger for the Blackhawks because the jersey is so nice?

[Crown Royal]

Originally Posted by nobles_point

If the Redskins name wasn’t still in use, the use of the Fleur dis lis by the Saints would seem insane.

https://centralrecorder.org/62445/op...ge-their-logo/

Bad people using something to do terrible things does not make that thing terrible. It is a symbol of French heritage, not the slave trade.

[Crown Royal]

Originally Posted by RM14

Is there no anger for the Blackhawks because the jersey is so nice?

No, it's likely because it is named after a military unit that was named after an individual person and their logo is about as realistic as it can get, it's not an offensive caricature like the Indians Chief Wahoo or the old Braves logo froom pre-1990

[getbak]

Originally Posted by RM14

Is there no anger for the Blackhawks because the jersey is so nice?

They're on the list, they're just not as high on the list as the Redskins and Indians.

If you subscribe to The Athletic, they had a story last week about the issue: https://theathletic.com/1888307/2020...american-logo/