Native American Mascot Controversies

Almost all sports fans have heard of the Washington Redskins or the Atlanta Braves. Recently, Native Americans have started speaking out and demanding for the Native American mascots to be changed. The Native American people have started protests claiming that the mascots are harmful stereotypes, they cause more stereotypes to be made about their people, and causes people to forget about the significance and the heritage of the Native American peoples. Along with the harmful and negative stereotypes of the Native Americans, there is a huge amount of hate crime towards them. The Department of Justice analysis says, "American Indians are more likely than people of other races to experience violence at the hands of someone of a different race." Also, teams that have an Indian mascot have to pay extra millions of dollars in revenue each year. Having a Native American mascot does not benefit the people or the team. According to Fox Sports, "The researchers concluded that schools that moved away from such mascots generally experienced a small, short-termed dip in revenue, but that overtime the revenue actually increased." The revenue dipped because the teams would have to make all new apparel for their new mascot. The revenue eventually went back up because the fans liked the non-offensive mascots better. Native American mascots each year have been losing their popularity with the fans, and of course, the Native American people. Overall, I believe that the mascots should be changed because it will help the teams revenue and will no longer be offensive towards the Native Americans.

Native American women protesting the Redskins mascot.

Fox Sports
National Congress of American Indians
Department of Justice analysis
Native American Mascot Controversy and Mass Media Involvement

Analytical Skills from Movies

When most students think of watching a movie in class, they think of it as an easy day or a “free day”, but this is not always the case. In history class this year, we have watched Glory and Twelve Years a Slave to learn about the effects of slavery in the United States. Instead of just watching the movie to kill time, I took some notes during it about the attitudes towards enslaved people, and did some follow up research on both movies afterward. It is possible to create analytical skills and explore real life events, circumstances, and attitudes from watching movies in a critical way because you are given the opportunity to decide what ideas the director is trying to portray in each scene, you get to see a different point of view that you might not have thought of before.

By watching movies, you can develop great analytical skills because you can decipher what ideas the director is trying to portray in each scene. For example, in Twelve Years a Slave, the director is trying to show just how brutal slavery was. Most everyone knows that slavery was harsh and a brutal concept, but are unaware of just how gruesome and cruel slavery really was. Another concept that the director was trying to show is that not all enslaved people were illiterate or weak. Solomon was a free, intelligent, and talented black man living in the north when he was captured into slavery. When he was sold to his master, he had to hide his intelligence and act weak to save his life. Each slave at Solomons plantation had a certain gift or intelligence that the masters refused to acknowledge. Instead of being recognized, they were treated like they were not even humans. In the movie Glory, the director is portraying the similar idea that the enslaved men are not as weak as they are thought to be, and that even in the north, where slavery is abolished, the black regiment is still treated like slaves. The white men in the Union Army do not believe that the black men are strong enough to fight. They mock the regiment by not providing them with proper equipment, and do not pay the black men as much as the white men. These enslaved men came to the north to fight and be free, but they are treated very similarly in the north as they were when they were slaves. Great analytical skills can be created from watching these movies because you not only learn about the history of the events, but you decipher the hidden details and point of view the director has placed all throughout the movie.

Form watching movies in class, you can also learn about the different mindsets that you might not have thought of before. In Twelve Years a Slave, I never knew quite how violent the slave owners were, and that they would rape some of the enslaved girls. The director vividly shows how violently they were treated. Even though it is somewhat difficult to watch, I believe it is necessary to learn the real truth about what was happening to these slaves. The director of Twelve Years a Slave had this same idea when making the movie. His main goal was to get the truth and let it be known, and to get the novel the movie was based off of into the curriculum at schools across the United States. Making a movie so vivid and true can be a difficult feat for a director, because this could make the audience not want to see the movie. Needless to say, the directors of both Glory and Twelve Years a Slave wonderfully portrayed the truths of the past and made two critically acclaimed movies. Most history movies are not 100% accurate to the real story, but it is usually to prove a point that might not have been as obvious before. For example, in the movie Twelve Years a Slave, Patsey begs Solomon to kill her, but in real life this did not happen. I believe the director chose to make it this way to show how miserable and desperate the slaves were on the plantations. Even though this detail is not historically accurate, it helps to influence the audience and change their perspective.

Overall, watching movies in history class will develop great analytical skills because you can decipher the ideas the director is trying to portray in each scene, and learn a new idea that you did not think of before.

Patsey and Solomon-Twelve Years a Slave

Filmmakers goals in Glory

Filmmakers goals in 12 years a slave

12 Years a Slave Rotten Tomatoes Critics Review

Glory Rotten Tomatoes Critics Review

Glory Awards

12 years historically accurate

Glory historically accurate

Glory cost/box office

12 years cost/box office

Practicing Incorporating a Quotation

While watching the movie Glory, the characters seemed authentic and real, not just like they were acting the part, but that they were the real people who lived in those events. This quote by James Berardinelli from Reelviews states, "The characters in Glory never seem less than three-dimensional." 

What I learned today about paraphrasing and quoting is that you cannot use two words in a row that are the same in the article. The article will show up on Google when you search your sentence. You must be very careful and particular in word word choice so that you can still get the main point across, without copying the other persons work. If you directly quote the article or use the ideas from the article, you must hyperlink the article to give them credit.

This is what Mrs. Lawson wanted me to learn today:

• Only use a quote when it adds power and style to my writing.
• Always make it clear, from context, that I understand the full meaning of the quote.
• Whether I quote or paraphrase, always be transparent about the source and how I'm using it. 
• If I use another author's exact words or phrases, to any extent, I have to use quotation marks and give credit.
• If I use another's author's presentation of facts or ideas, but put their ideas in my own words, I better have a good reason for doing that, and I MUST give credit.
• Hyperlinking is so easy, there is o excuse for not being transparent about my sources.

I really understand these things.

Paraphrase Practice

This passage is from the website called Reelviews on the movie Glory by James Berardinelli. This is the excerpt from the article in Reelviews. "The historical backdrop against which Glory transpires is mostly historically accurate. In fact, a great deal of effort went into getting the details correct. The main events shown in the film happened much as they are depicted, some of the key characters (Shaw, Frederick Douglas, etc.) existed, and the outcome was as Zwick presents it."

This is my paraphrase, In the movie Glory, a lot of work went into making sure that the history was correct. The main characters, Shaw and Frederick Douglass, actually existed in real life and the events and results in the movie happened almost exactly as they are shown by the director Zwick.

Empathy is History

During class, I learned that empathy is an intellectual identification or vicarious experience of the feelings, thoughts, attitude of another. On the other hand, sympathy is feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune. Empathy is when you are able to put yourself into someone else's shoes and understand what they were doing, even if you don't agree it. Sympathy is opposite because it is feeling bad for the person in their situation. An example of empathy is a cat chasing a mouse. I understand that the cat chases the mouse because it wants to eat it, even though I think the cat should leave it alone and eat its own cat food. When studying history, understanding the meaning of empathy is important so you can understand the reasoning behind their actions.

Empathy