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When it comes to cultural appropriation, sports team mascots are everywhere
It has taken a very long time for the momentum to change American Indian racist logos to reach a national level.
An honourable mention goes to the Washington Redskins. Along with first person accounts that the term is racist, the term “redskins” is defined in most American English dictionaries as “derogatory slang.”
But the Cleveland Indians have by far the worst team mascot.
Nothing quite like an Indian chief in full on redface named Wahoo wearing a massive grin.
The name Wahoo derives from a 1930s comic strip laden with all sorts of stereotypes and derogatory portrayals based on ethnicity.
From there, the first Cleveland Indians incarnation of the image arose after World War II, when controversy was frowned upon.
The team does have an alternate logo of a block-type C that they are using more and more, but the love affair with Chief Wahoo continues. Now sometimes in defiance of those who claim it is racist, as Twitter wars havee broken out over its use.
Many sports fans love their team, and were quick to come on the defensive when confronted with the racism inherent in their logo.
Team chief executive, Paul Dolan, has said that he has, “empathy for those who take issue with” the logo and that the team has “minimized the use of it and we’ll continue to do what we think is appropriate.” But, he adds, he has, “no plans to get rid of Chief Wahoo; it is part of our history and legacy.”
On top of this, fans state over and over that the use of the logo is not racism, it is honouring.
If you really wanted to honour someone, and they were alive to ask, you should listen when they tell you that your artistic interpretation is not honourable at all. Native Americans aren’t dead, despite what Hollywood might show you. No more Westerns doesn not mean no more Indians.
Which brings me to a related point. I’ve looked high and long through sports history, and I don’t see any real asking First Nation bands by Cleveland’s target audience.
The fight against racist First Nation mascot began with the civil rights movement, just as other ethnic groups began to define themselves.
Racist Native mascots were challenged under Indigenous intellectual property right, such as the Resolution of the 5th Annual Meeting of the Traditional Elders Circle, from October 1980.
At the same time, in the spirit of Idle No More, groups began to protest the sports team and their logo by holding rallies and round dances outside the stadium. Hopefully, this pushed management towards using the block-text C logo more and more in the future and phase out Chief Wahoo.
There is a new mascot in town that is a parody of Chief Wahoo, but instead of redskin, he is caucasian.
Most people became aware of the alternate mascot when ESPN sports journalist Bomani Jones wore one on TV. Instead of Chief Wahoo on his shirt, there was the image of a blond white guy who has a dollar sign sticking out of the back of his head, with the same grin, which made the logo perfect.
And some Caucasian Americans did freak out on Twitter.
The logo was invented by Shelf Life Clothing Co. The owner of the company, Brian Kirby, was quoted on another sports show, Mike & Mike that, “To have a problem with the the logo of this would be to have a problem with the Indians,” Jones said. “But if you’re quiet about the Indians but have something to say about my shirt, I think it’s time for introspection.”
Image credit: edross88
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Nick Seebruch, editor
