Are Indian team mascots offensive?

Is it time to send American Indian-themed mascots and team names to the showers?

A group of American Indians thinks so. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., has revived a 1992 suit challenging the Washington Redskins' right to use a name Indians say is disrespectful.

Seven Indians petitioned the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board to cancel the Redskins' trademark. Redskin is a racial epithet to many Indians, and a reminder of the practice of scalping Indians by whites for bounties. The claim was initially dismissed because the Indians waited too long to challenge the trademark. The court decision overturns that finding and revives the challenge.

The Redskins are not the only team that has had its mascot challenged by Indian groups.

The Atlanta Braves have been under fire for the "Tomahawk Chop" and its use of Indian imagery for years. The Cleveland Indians have been taken to task by Indian activists over "Chief Wahoo," its grinning Indian logo.

More than 100 colleges use Indian mascots, but there have been some concessions to Indian tribes. The University of Utah, for example, turned its Ute mascot into a hawk.

Supporters of such mascots see them as honoring the first Americans, and paying tribute to their nobility, bravery and tenacity, just as BYU uses a cougar to symbolize strength.

But some Indians don't see it that way. Opponents of Florida State's Indian mascot, for example, see it as celebrating a stereotype of Indians as brutal savages. More>>>

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posted by ADMIN @ Friday, July 22, 2005