Mascots Aren't Here to Demean

​A mascot is an animal, person, or even an object thought to bring luck to a school, sports team, or society. There is much controversy in the United States when it comes to mascots concerning Native Americans. Some people Native American Mascots as being offensive towards the culture. Mainly the names are seen as demeaning and racist. On the other hand, some admire the heroic sense of these mascots of the classic Native American image. The argument has caused institutions to change the name of their mascot and also the image. An example of someone possibly seeing a Native American mascot or team name as racist is with the Washington Redskins football team. 

The Redskins use the slang term “redskins”, which can be seen as derogatory as opposed to the Florida State Seminoles whose use of the word “Seminole” relates back to the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

 There are many sports teams who use Native American figures as their mascots that could come under scrutiny, depending on the name and history of their Native American mascot. 

​I grew up in a community and schools which used Native American mascots. I went through four schools as a child, starting at primary, then elementary, middle, and ending at high school. My primary school’s mascot was a Chief, and as I moved up in schools, the mascot became more significant. My elementary school’s mascot was an Indian, the middle school’s was a Brave, and then the high school mascot was a Warrior. I did not see my community’s mascots as being racist or offensive by any means. With the mascot becoming more important, when we went to the next school for the next grade levels, we felt we were becoming more important as well. Our mascots are used to glorify the Native American culture.

​Opponents against the Native American mascots mention the fact there are no other mascots based on any other types of Americans, such as African Americans or Asian Americans. People who do not have an issue with Native American figures being mascots could also argue back saying the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish symbolizes a historic figure of the Euro-American culture. The United States Commission on Civil Rights has put an end to Native American mascots, but not for native schools.

​When I am watching football or any other sport whose team mascot is a Seminole or a Brave or an Indian, I would never think of the mascot as being offensive; a mascot is a mascot. A mascot is there to bring luck to the team, to represent the school, and even get the crowd fired up during a sporting event. I feel in this day and age, if we wanted to demean Native Americans, we wouldn't want them as mascots, as a positive figure. When I see a Native American mascots in sports today, I see them as respectful and giving credit to the Native Americans.