Indian Team Name Racisim
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
In the United States, many sports teams are named after Native American Indians such as the Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves, and many others. The practice of using these names for teams deeply offend many Native Americans for reasons that non-Native Americans do not always understand. While many people support these teams, Native Americans tend to get offended whenever those names are mentioned and whenever fans perform Indian "war dances" or "tomahawk chops" as part of the sporting ritual. They claim that it mocks their history and traditions, however, these team names (far from insulting anyone) show honor, and importance in the Indians' place in American history. Furthermore, use of Native American culture to promote sporting events or teams should not be looked upon as unacceptable or something that should deeply offend the American Indian.
Many dedicated activists see racism everywhere they look, and in this case, these activists have gone to far in making these judgements. If teams were trying to mock something, it is not likely they would name their team after their target. A team name is something to be proud of, not something you are trying to bring down or insult. Many of the time, teams are named after the tribe in which corresponds to the location of the team. This provides a sense of pride towards that place's heritage, not something meant to be in anyway offensive...