The controversy over if sports teams should be aloud to use Native Americans as logos has been going on for many years. Some teams have had their logos since the commencement of their organization and others have developed over time. Personally, I think that it’s okay for teams to have First Nations people as their mascot or logo if it’s represented in a respectful way. Although through my research, I’ve found that the majority of the time fans go too far by imitating the mascot and therefore making it offensive towards the First Nations people.
At first, I didn’t know much about the topic, or any history about the Cleveland Indians baseball team or logo, so I had a lot of research to do. To begin, I researched a Global News website and found out the base information I needed. I saw that the Cleveland American Indian Movement believes the logo of Chief Wahoo is disrespectful and inaccurate of the First Nations culture and they have filed legal complaints over it multiple times, and so the formation of my opinion on the topic sprouted. I then later found out that according to Global News Chief Wahoo is referred to as one of the “most offensive image in sports” and to me that’s just not right.
After I had the base of my information I wanted to know the history behind the logo, how it was created, and how it became such an offensive picture. According to Sports Illustrated, Fred George Reinhart designed Chief Wahoo and it was initially created harmlessly and originally represented the feelings of happiness during a winning streak. So how does a logo with such good intentions get turned into something so blatantly offensive? The fans. Fans have shown up to games with their faces painted bright red and feathered headdresses to support the team but there are so many other ways to show team spirit that cultural appropriation isn’t needed.
On the other hand, I do see teams like the Chicago Blackhawks who are respectful of the First Nations and it’s almost an honor to their culture to be the mascot of such a successful hockey team. But when teams like the Cleveland Indians have mascots like Chief Wahoo, it ruins the image for every team and now all the sports teams with logos like that are considered offensive. I strongly believe that if we draw the line in the sand and say that no sports team is aloud to use another culture as their mascot, good or bad, it would eliminate a lot of the controversy.
In conclusion, sports have become such a political issue; I wish we could all just go back to enjoying a respectful game where the only controversy is deciding which team to root for. These kinds of logos have been an ongoing problem for many seasons now and slowly but surely changes are being made. One day we may reach a point in our society where we are more accepting and open-minded to the way others feel about how we treat them, but sadly right now we’re not there yet. So in my opinion, sports teams should not be aloud to use First Nations as their logos.
