The use of Native American themed mascots

In order to help Native American Indians recover their identity, Native American themed mascots ought to be outlawed. The use of Native American mascots has led to the stereotyping of the indigenous population, and in the majority of instances, the sports symbols are employed to maintain harmful and untrue perceptions that are intended to profile the histories and cultures of the Native Americans. The use of American Indians as sports mascots portrays the natives as violent and barbaric people who are not deserving of respect like any other American. (Tarver, 2016). Mascots are known to unify the spectators but the manner in which they are used in America, Indian mascots bring the element of misguidance and nostalgia in the arena. Notably, the Native American are human beings just like any other American, and thus they should not be singled out as mascots for team sports. Therefore, their dignity as a community and their religion should be respected, and other mascot symbols should be used instead of that of a particular community.

The fact that the Natives are among the many tribes that live in the United States and the only people whose identity, cultural beliefs, and imagery are used as mascots, results to racial discrimination. Some names have been used as Mascots to downgrade the Native Americans, and instead of bringing honor, they result to social prejudice. Therefore, the use of any mascot affiliated to the Native Americans is disrespectful and should not be encouraged (Tarver, 2016). Many natives are stereotyped by their behavior, appearance and there exist many inaccuracies in the history of the native people. Therefore, it is unethical to use the Native American themed mascots and should be banned, since in most cases, it results to stereotyping of the Native way of life which should be respected at all costs.

References

Tarver. (2016). On the Particular Racism of Native American Mascots. Critical Philosophy Of Race, 4(1), 95. http://dx.doi.org/10.5325/critphilrace.4.1.0095