Cleveland+Indians+Mascot+Controversy


 * Cleveland Indians Mascot Controversy **



The controversy of the use of Indian mascots, symbols and names in sports have always existed throughout history. White Americans and Native Americans have been arguing about how stereotypical sport teams’ mascots are dehumanizing Indians. Due to their significant media coverage, sports teams are the most visible users of Indian mascots. High schools to universities to professional sports teams many have Indian mascots. According to the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media, there are nearly 3,000 sports teams in the United States with mascots of Indian theme. This includes professional teams, college and university teams, high school and junior high school teams, and elementary school teams. The professional baseball team the Cleveland Indians is a franchise that gets a lot of attention on this subject of racism. ** The Problem ** Many of the images of the mascots are negative stereotypes and are dehumanizing. Many fans wear weathers and war paint while some yell chants like “Scalp them”. Also came along the names like “Savages”. These visual stereotypes give a bad name for Indians. The American Indian students and activists argued that the baseball clue was raciest and permitted the use of stereotypical offensive mascots that represent inferior, foolish, violence and mock Native Americans appearance, dress, culture, and religion. ** Cleveland Indians ** The Cleveland Indians have had the Indian name since 1915. The mascot “Chief Wahoo” made first appearance as a shoulder patch on Cleveland uniforms in 1947. Until 1928 there was no acknowledgment of this nickname on their uniforms. Before that the uniforms only contained variations of a stylized "C" or the word "CLEVELAND", like they had from the club's beginning in 1901. In 1947 the home and road uniforms began featuring the first appearance of Chief Wahoo, replacing the old profile with a three-quarters face style. A newer style of Chief Wahoo replaced that one on the uniform shirt sleeve starting in 1951. That style has remained the model for Chief Wahoo to this day. In March of 2007 the Cleveland Indians baseball club was invited to play in Major League Baseball’s inaugural Civil Rights Game in Memphis along with the St. Louis Cardinals. This caused great mayhem. A game intending to recognize and to rememberthe home of the NationalCivil Rights Museam and the city where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 we have a team’s mascot that is offending Native Americans. This wasn’t the best choice by the Major League Baseball. In the year 2008 the MLB produced special hats that were supposed to worn on big American Holidays. Well these caps had each team’s logo woven into stars and stripes. However this cap style for the Cleveland Indians with Chief Wahoo and stars and stripes cause unfavorable controversy. So in 2009 the MLB redesigned the Cleveland Indians cap with a capital “C” logo replacing Chief Wahoo. ** Conclusion ** Many sports teams have changed their names, symbols, and logos because of how it gives a bad reputation for Indians or other races. But it is possible for one day that there will be no more Native American mascots or at least their offensive stereotypes. There are a few mascots that are not offensive and Native Americans are okay with them. We should all be able to relate to what the Native American Indians are going through. No one wants their culture made fun of or made look bad. This needs to stop and needs to be changed. Native American will probably not stop until it is finished and they are actually honored and so we should honor them. __**Sources **__ 1. American Indians Sports Teams Mascot. Web. 12 April 2011.< [] >. This website has a few main articles about the latest rulings on the Native Indian mascot topic. It also has a few videos that show stereotypes of Indians. Then there are also many other articles on rulings that have happened in the past.

2. Berland, Ben L. “Aboriginal Stereotypes in Sports: Intentions Gone Horribly Wrong”. The Sports Digest. Web. 11 April 2011. < [] >. This website explains the problem we have with mascots and stereotypes in sports. They examine why it is wrong, factors that cause stereotypes, and what can be done to change.

3. DeWitt, Nick. “Native American Mascot: Honorable or Ignorant?.” 6 Oct 2009. Web. 9 April 2011. < [] >. This articles talks about how we are still exploiting the Native Americans by using them as symbols and it is not honorable at all.

4. Glover, William H. “Is the Ethinic Mascot Controversy over?” 22 Feb 2010. Web. 04 April 2011. < [] >. This document explains the controversy among sports teams. It also explains how some schools have changed their name and mascot to respect the American Indians’ demands.

5. Hoffer, Katie. “Team Mascots: The Native American Controversy.” 26 Sept 2008. Web. 11 April 2011. < [] >. In this article they talk about the reasons American Indians should be okay with have a team represent them and having them as their mascot. They explain honor and how this is not honoring them.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">6. Hylton, Gordon. “The Native American Mascot Issue Will Just Not Go Away.” 22 March 2010. < [] >. This article explains the ruling of the Marquette University and the American Indians. The Wisconsin legislature ruled in favor of the Native Americans and gave them the power to object to the university of using them as a mascot and logo.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">7. Jean, Terri. “A TIME-LINE ON THE FIGHT TO GET RID OF THE OFFENSIVE MASCOTS”. Web. 07 April 2011. < [] >. This website shows a time line of the events against offensive racial mascots.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">8. Mascot, Symbols, and Names in Sports: A Brief History of the Controversy. Web. 12 April 2011. < [] >. This website is a teacher’s guide to help them teach about the controversy and be correct without discriminating anyone.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">9. MLB Pulls Chief Wahoo Off Indians 09 Stars and Stripes Hats. Web. 13 April 2011. < [] >. This article shows that the MLB is starting to make changes to the logos. In 08 the MLB got yelled at because of the logo with an American stars and stripes. They avoided it in 09 by have the “C” for Cleveland on the hat.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">10. Native American Mascot Videos. Web. 10 April 2011. < [] >. This is a website with many videos about the controversy with mascots and Indians.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">11. Paroli, Colleen. “Indian Mascots Insult” 16 Nov 2006. Web. 05 April 2011. < [] >. This article states how it is an insult to the American Indians by using them as mascots. In 1995 World Series it was majorly publicized because the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves played each other.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">12. Pewewardy, Cornel. “Will Another School Year Bring Insult or Honor? The Usage of Indians Mascot in School Related Events.” Web. 12 April 2011. < [] >. This article has data of what people think about mascots and stereotypes that follow with mascots. It has many examples of times where there were issues between Indians and mascots.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">13. Sloat, Bill. “Cleveland Indians’ Chief Wahoo Logo: Called Inappropriate For First Civil Rights Game. 28 March 2007. Web. 10 April 2011. < [] >. This article talks about the national civil right group for Native Americans and the Cleveland Indians arguing about the Indians playing the weekend of the sports' inaugural Civil Rights Game and how Chief Wahoo is racially offensive.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">14. Teters, Charlene. “American Indians Are People, Not Mascots.” Web. 12 April 2011. < [] >. This article focuses on how it’s racist by having mascots and a group of people. The American Indian community has tried for many year to remove the mascots and are still working hard to remove more.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">15. Thacker, Paul D. “Ugly Turn in Mascot Dispute”. 10 Jan 2007. Web. 12 April 2011. < [] >. This article talks about the dispute between the University of Illinois and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It also addresses the hatred of change of the mascot from the students and public. Even though all the hatred the NCAA still did the correct thing and forced colleges to change their mascots by 2008.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">16. The Native American Almanac. “Over 3**<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-weight: normal;">5 Years of effort addressing the use of American Indian related sports team mascots.” Web. 6 April 2011. < ** [] >. This website is a timeline of events that affected team mascots and the American Indians.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">17. The Wild Rivers Teaching American History Project. “Indian Mascot, Symbols, and Names in Sports: A Brief History of the Controversy”. Web. 12 April 2011. <[|**http://americanindiantah.com/lesson_plans/ml_mascots.html**]>. Half way down this website it clearly talks about the Cleveland Indians and how they have got their name. It explains the traditional events that the Indians have done and how the fans have taken over them and mocked the traditions.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">18. Thomas, NL. “Erwin Mascot Controversy, National Spotlight to Shine.” 12 April 2000. Web. 11 April 2011. < [] >. This article explains about the controversy of the Indian mascot and image of the Erwin High School of Asheville, North Carolina. They also relate it to the present Cleveland Indians and how they need to change it.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">19. Spindel, Carol. “Dancing at Half-Time.” Book from web. 11 April 2011. < [] >. This book hit on many things that affect the controversy with the mascots. It explains the controversy in general and the myths that the mascots perform. It talks about who are Indian and how much do we really know about them.

<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">20. Zimmerman, Jonathan. “The Cleveland Indians’ Mascot Must Go.” 15 Oct 2007. Web. 13 April 2011. < [] >. This article talks about how the mascot Chief Wahoo became the mascot for the Cleveland Indians. It explains why it is political incorrect and should be changed.