Oregon Board of Education Bans Native American Mascots

Post Reply New Topic

My kids school is the "Fighting Choctaws" and they have tomahawks painted in the parking lot to point which way to go, and they have a big statue of an Indian Chief right inside the doors of the high school.

Most people in Alabama are part Cherokee, Creek or Choctaw. Why is it offensive to someone else to use a mascot that almost everybody has part of? Probably 90% of the people in Alabama who have been here since at least the 20's or 30's (and thats a whole lot of us) have at least one full blood Indian in our ancestry. Since most of us are part Indian, I don't think any outside group has the right to come in and tell us that we cannot use it.

I think it's ridiculous to get upset over sports team mascots. Mascots are all over the top anyway. No more Indians as mascots. No more ethnic groups at all as mascots because it's offensive. No more animals as mascots because it takes away from the dignity of the animals and violates their rights (I bet PETA would jump on that bandwagon), so what are we going to use as mascots??

The Washington Lamps
The Florida Brooms
The Atlanta Picture Frames
The New York Pillows

Eventually we will be reduced to using objects as mascots.

Please folks, it's not a big deal. I wouldn't care if they called a team The Rednecks, or The Crackers, or The Housewives, etc etc etc. People who have nothing better to get upset about than a sports mascot obviously have good, easy lives, because most people have a lot more to get upset over. Real stuff.

White people are the majority in the USA. The majority can't be marginalized and discriminated against by a small minority.

Or, as Louis CK sarcastically put it: "Oh no, that ruined my day. Boy, he shouldn't have called me a cracker, bringing me back to owning land and people. What a drag."

That's his experience.

Louis CK isn't the king of white people, and he doesn't dictate how others feel.

Political Correctness is never practiced in favor of white folks. Never, ever.

ruveyn

Will they ever care, or show that they care?

Did any native American tribe explicitly say they didn't want to be portrayed as a mascot? If the native Americans don't mind, we shouldn't either.

But it's not fair to use a tribe's image without their permission or consent. If it is a fictitious tribal group then I don't think anyone can complain.

I think joker has a good point. Racial slurs do exist for white people, but they are not as strong.

I mean, come on, cracker vs the n-word? Gringo vs negro? Gringo and cracker are very weak compared to those two. When someone calls me those I can't take them seriously.

The worst I've ever been called was "nazi", because I have blond hair and blue eyes. But some of my closest friends, who have a darker complexion, have been called everything from the n-word to s--t face.

It is easy for white people to think something is not that big a deal but for those who are not as high in the social totem pole, it's like kicking them while they are down. This includes the story about the images of Native Americans possibly being exploited against their will.

What's the difference between the Celtics and the Native Americans as mascots? Celtics were not directly massacred by Americans. The native Americans were.

<snip>

Pun intended?

What does it matter how strong they are? A racial slur is a racial slur. The only reason one word might be said to be worse than the next depends on the reaction to it.

Do you think white people should just accept being called slurs? A lot of white people don't react when called a racial slur, but should they? Why should they let other people get away with calling them a slur? Why should we tolerate a double standard?

They could change their name to South Washington.

Also, the ACLU seems to have a bigger problem with Native American mascots than the tribes themselves.

sounds like a plan
However due to political correctness, all states with native american names should change their name to some form of George Washington. We shall have no cultural exchanges due to fear of upsetting the pc sqadrons. We will "white"wash every aspect of life so diversity can be respected.

However...to keep with the conversation. I am part cherokee and the rest Irish and if some team wants to call them selves, the Indian Mutts, that would not bother me...where I come from, Oklahoma, everyone there is an Indian mixbreed. I think if a team named the Rabbis were a good team that kicked butt, I think it would be a more of a compliment than anything.

as for the white slurs....I been called white wh*re and white trash and a few other things along those lines which hits below the belt, not all white slurs are painless as cracker.

Jojo

There are some serious civil rights issues and constitutional rights issues perpitrated by our government...the ACLU basicly wags their finger at them but then Hounds schools about crap like this. I used to believe the ACLU had our best interest in mind, but now I see that they play games too by fighting shadow puppets while the big issues mostly get free range.
Thousands of people have wrote to ACLU about the TSA and all the violations of human decency caused by them. ACLU mentions it, talks about it and then promptly uses its legal muster to change the names of school mascots. WTF???

Jojo

Only one university in Texas had such an issue--Midwestern State University, in Wichita Falls. Until 2006, their team was the Indians, and had the official blessing of the Kiowa tribe. Nobody appeared to be offended, but the ACLU made them change it to the Mustangs.

The ACLU's job is to get offended for other people if they think those people should be offended and just don't have enough sense/sensitivity to actually be offended. Their job is also to go after the offender whether the offense was intended or not.

That'll show em!

There was a documentary on TV about an Illinois school mascot being offensive to a tribe of Illinois Indians. A surprisingly moving and persuasive little independent film.

Before I saw it I was of the opinion that it was taking PC too far, and that we have White ethnic team names like the Montreal Canadiens, Nortre Dame's 'Fighting Irish', and countless schools using names like "Spartans", and 'Vikings" ( ancient warriors associated particular European ethnic groups). So whats the big deal?

But after seeing the film I not so sure.

Maybe its a matter of degree. The Atlanta "Braves" is no worse a name than the Minnesota "Vikings". But calling a team "the Washington Redskins" is a just a bit asinine in this day and age.