Everybody's heard that it's 2007, right? The 21st century is old enough to be in second grade now--maybe it knows how to write in cursive. So raise your hand if you don't have some measure of disbelief that this--
is still the Cleveland Indians' mascot.
Really, Cleveland? Really?
Bob Harris puts it better, and more vehemently, than I am going to do, but his post only reminded me of something I'd already found really obvious.
If any particular Bugs Bunny cartoon contained a caricature like this (and maybe some did), TV stations would have stopped airing it decades ago. If this character were the equivalent depiction of a black or Asian person, it would be long gone. In fact, somebody on the internet made this point visually:
I can't decide whether the weirdest thing is that Native Americans are the one ethnic group that is widely used as a sports mascot or whether it's that--somehow--"Chief Wahoo" has escaped the political correctness smackdown on the worst abuses of Native American mascottage. (Well, them and the Washington Redskins. Seriously, I bet you'd be just as likely to call Native Americans "redskins" to their faces as you would to call a black person the n-word. Think about it.)
Sometimes I think the whole political correctness thing gets out of hand, yes. But I disagree strongly with people who use the term only in a derogatory sense. Political correctness, at its heart, is about respect; respect as mandated by mere common decency. It's about acknowledging that people--no matter their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc.--
deserve to be understood and appreciated as individual human beings. Not as stereotypes, not as jokes, and not as this.
22 comments:
I think some sort of American Indian group or person tried to sue the Cleveland Indians or at least force them to change their mascot...not sure what became of it, but Cleveland seems to have won. I, for one, like the Indians. Always have. I guess I have a thing for Chief Wahoo. But I'm cheering for the Rockies all the way!
Lets also make sure that Texas A&M stops the use of "Ol' Sarge" since it exagerates features of white people in uniform.
As an American History teacher, I'm just as annoyed with the team name as I am with the logo. I mean really, for how many more generations must we perpetuate the evidence of Columbus's geographical ineptitude? MAYBE he can be forgiven for thinking he'd stumbled upon an all-together different landmass (after all, that was before Google Earth) but we should know better.
Ol' Sarge is a fondly intended representation of a strapping, intimidating white man, which is different than a composite drawing of negative stereotypes created in a time when racism was A-OK.
Duh.
People don't want to name their teams after something they don't like. They want to take pride in their team. So why would they name their team after an ethnicity they hate, if they are indeed racist? Maybe the Chief Wahoo caricature isn't the best, but I see it as a sign of respect for Indians that teams are named after them, just names like Vikings or Fighting Irish were chosen out of respect for those ethnicities.
Just because somebody named his team "The Gophers" doesn't mean they respect gophers, at least in the sense that gophers should be given equal voting rights or invited to dinner or allowed to marry your daughter.
Ol' Sarge is a composite drawing depicting a strong white man "created in a time when racism was A-OK." Using your logic, Ol' Sarge must go!
Duh!
Drawing of white men by a racist white man, is no different from drawing of indians by racist white men.
That doesn't even make sense. I mean, I suppose white people can be racist against white people but
1. it's not that common (what with self-hatred being less prevalent than people-who=are-different-than-me-hatred) and
2. it's clearly not what's going on with Ol' Sarge. Like I already said, Ol' Sarge is obviously an affectionately intended cartoon, and it doesn't offend anybody (unless it offends you, and I doubt that). Chief Wahoo does offend some Native Americans, and they have every right to feel that way.
Furthermore, racism doesn't make any sense without context, which is what you're trying to take this out of.
I'm not saying that Ol' Sarge is racist toward white men, I'm saying, it could be implied that Ol' Sarge is a symbol of how white men are stronger than any other race (which, I know is not true). Like you said, this whole thing is about a symbol being offensive. And, I am just trying to point out that everything is offensive to someone. But, that doesn't mean you have to change it.
If I don't know who you are, then I don't care what you think.
Check your history and you'll find that the first native american played for this team.
I did check my history, and you know what I found out? You're wrong. Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American professional baseball player, played for the Cleveland Spiders, which were disbanded in 1899.
And even if Louis Sockalexis had played for them (which, again, he didn't, which is to say that you are stupid), that wouldn't make that hideous logo any less racist.
Actually,good post. thx
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AAAAAAHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhAHAHAHAHAH Cleveland africans HAHAHAHAHAHAHA i black so it aint racism
keep quoting these dead white guys for a reason. We seem to be repeating some particularly nasty history, right now.
How about...The Cleveland White People?
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