Redface! |
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Redface! |
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Indian Stereotypes in SportsDuring the 1960s, the National Congress of American Indians began a campaign to eliminate negative stereotyping of American Indians in the media. They focused mainly on cartoons and movies; however their protests of sports organizations garnered the most attention. Since 1971, nearly two-thirds of professional and amateur athletic teams bearing Native American iconography have made a change, but there are still quite a few holdouts.
The American Indian community has been working to end the appropriation by sports teams of Native American images and names like Cleveland Indians, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Braves. The Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo offends Indian people the same way that Little Black Sambo offended African Americans and the Frito Bandito offended the Hispanic community. However American Indian images and nicknames remain common in sports, and may be seen in use by teams at all levels from elementary school to professional. The Cleveland Indians name has been used since 1915 and the team has used various forms of Chief Wahoo as its logo since 1915, the current version since 1952. Every Opening Day in Cleveland, when Native Americans protest outside Progressive Field, Indians fans take comfort in the myth that the name and logo honor Louis "Chief" Sockalexis, a Penobscot Indian who played with the Cleveland Spiders from 1897 to 1899.
Lately, the debate over the Washington Redskins name has been getting a lot more intense, but so far the team's owner and many longtime Redskins fans are adamantly opposed to changing it. During a October 14, 2013, Sunday night football game between the Redskins and the Cowboys, NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas delivered a halftime essay on the subject: With Washington playing Dallas here tonight, it seems like an appropriate time to acknowledge the ongoing controversy about the name,
"Redskins."¯
Let's start here. There is no reason to believe that owner Daniel Snyder, or any official or player from his team, harbors animus toward Native Americans or wishes to disrespect them. This is undoubtedly also true of the vast majority of those who don't think twice about the longstanding moniker. And in fact, as best can be determined, even a majority of Native Americans say they are not offended. Defenders of the Redskins name and logo claim that they honor Native Americans, but the team's founder was a notorious racist named George Preston Marshall who thought of the idea strictly as a marketing gimmick. He thought the Redskins name was funny, just as he thought the war paint and feather headdress he made the head coach wear were funny. He even had his players dress up in Indian outfits and perform during halftimes. Because of Marshall's virulent racism, he was a driving force in banning blacks from playing in the NFL beginning in 1927. Prior to that time, blacks played in the NFL and no one much cared -- except racists like George Preston Marshall. The ban was lifted in 1946, but the Redskins were the last team in the NFL to integrate (1961) and it was only done then because they moved into a stadium on public property and were forced to stop discriminating against black players. When George Preston Marshall died in 1969, he directed that the bulk of his estate be used to set up a foundation in his name. He attached one firm condition: that the foundation, operating out of Washington, D.C., should not direct a single dollar toward "any purpose which supports or employs the principle of racial integration in any form."¯ This is the man who gave the Washington Redskins their name. The Washington Redskins' original (1938-1980s) fight song: Hail to the Redskins! Hail to the Redskins is the second oldest fight song for a professional American football team. During the 1938 season the Redskins played their new fight song for fans in attendance at the games. The Redskin band was dressed in buckskins and headdresses, and featured a chorus line of prancing Indian princesses. According to a recent poll conducted by the Associated Press, 79 percent of Americans think the Washington Redskins should keep their name. This should only be cited as proof that 79 percent of Americans are willfully ignorant and need a history lesson.
June 2014 - US Patent Office Cancels Redskins TrademarkThe United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Washington Redskins trademark registration, calling the football team's name "disparaging to Native Americans."¯ Federal trademark law does not permit registration of trademarks that "may disparage" individuals or groups or "bring them into contempt or disrepute."¯ The ruling pertains to six different trademarks associated with the team, each containing the word "Redskin."¯
Update - January 29, 2017:The Cleveland Indians will stop using the Chief Wahoo logo on their uniforms beginning in 2019, according to Major League Baseball, which said the popular symbol was no longer appropriate for use on the field.
Update - July 13, 2020:The N.F.L. team in Washington announced Monday that it would drop its logo and “Redskins” from its name, yielding to sponsors and Native American activists who have long criticized it as a racist slur.
Update - July 23, 2021:Known as the Indians since 1915, Cleveland's Major League Baseball team will now be called the Guardians. In 2018, the Indians stopped wearing the contentious Chief Wahoo logo on their jerseys and caps. However, the team continues to sell merchandise bearing the smiling, racist caricature.
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Redface! -- ContentsRacist Indian StereotypesHistory of Indian StereotypesRedface in Film and TVIndian Myths vs RealityIndian Stereotypes in Sports |
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Racial and Racist Stereotypes in Media |
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