Caricatures are important symbols that are used in sports to represent teams. This has been a historical trend that cuts across teams all the way from high school, university and professional teams. Teams that use Native American caricatures do so with the intention of looking unique. Many people are attracted to teams because of such symbols. For instance, if a team takes the name, New York City Indians, then it is likely to attract fans because of the name. Images of Natives may be used in the form or art such as feathers and other items that are associated with Native communities. However, there are some people who find the use of caricatures as a disrespectful practice to Native Americans (Morris, 2021). Although some teams have used Native American mascots to honor the native communities, the practice is viewed as offensive because they are demeaning and cause psychological harm to the communities.
Using Native American mascots is considered to be dehumanizing to the Native Americans. It has been observed that the mascots make Native Americans to look like they are primitive and cannot live a life like they are primitive. These artifacts make the Native Americans to appear like they have not civil, and this is what amounts to dehumanization. In this sense, the use of their mascots makes more people to fear them because of the unusual symbols that’s that look strange.
The use of Native American symbols is also harmful because of the stereotypes that it presents against Native Americans. The cultural artifacts are used to reinforce the stereotypes and this ends up hurting more people. For instance, the Indians are perceived to be warlike or violent because of the mascots worn by athletics teams. This is not a good perception or impression because it can make the Natives to be discriminated against in aspects of employment because they are seen to be dangerous. The use of the images, names and symbols contributes to the loss of personhood of Native people. The representation of caricatures in the form of animals or beasts is an issue that makes the community members to be seen as less human beings. This adds to their suffering in the United States (Engle, 2021).
The Native Americans is an ethnic group that has lagged behind economically because of the long history they have with colonization, poverty, unemployment and other social issues. The use of caricatures does not help to address these problems because it is seen to be a matter of having fan. The use of the images and symbols of Native people is perceived to be a way of ridiculing members of the community. Some people see them to be weird and strange because of the cultural artefacts. It is not right for teams to be ridiculing the Native people instead of contributing towards their development and prosperity(Engle, 2021).
Supporters of using Native American mascots have argued that it is a way of honoring their culture. They state that adopting the names of teams using the Native American names has made the names of such teams to remain important in the society. It has been argued that the use of Native American names in sports team is meant to bring out the strengths of the communities. For instance, a football team named as Atlanta City Chiefs is meant to portray the fighting spirit of the Indians. The name is therefore a way of recognizing the Native community as courageous and fighters (Engle, 2021).
Despite the intentions, being good, the use of Native people’s names and symbols is in most cases negative because of the big psychological impact on the society. The users of such names may be doing it in good faith, but the results are not good. The affected Native communities continue to remain behind in poverty, unemployment and other social issues. This is despite the users of their cultural elements thriving in prosperity through sports.
Conclusively, the use of mascots in sports is a controversial matter in America. Sports team feel that they have the freedom to use the mascots to honor the negative communities. Critics find it disrespectful to use the cultural symbols. Critics think that using such symbols amounts of mocking the Native people. It has also been argued that there are numerous psychological effects that the Native people suffer because of the way their names and other cultural symbols are used to ridicule them. It is ok for teams to use names and imagery of Native Americans, but such use should not be damaging.
Comentarios