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