They say that we should keep the same mascots and not change them, but I say we should change controversial mascots because Washington's football team the Redskins, makes a hostile environment for Native American kids. Stegman is associate director of the Half in Ten Education Fund at the progressive Center for American Progress. Previously, he served as majority staff counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. He and Victoria Phillips, a professor at American University Washington College of Law, argue in a report published Tuesday that derogatory team names create an "unwelcome and hostile learning environment" for Native students that "directly results in lower self-esteem and mental health" for these adolescents and young adults. Therefore if you do change the mascots name and logo you will have kids and young adults that are Native Americans and they will feel safer.
Riley said that these schools are not meaning to be offensive they are just doing this because there is either a reason or background but I say that we should change mascots because Abed Ayoub, legal and policy director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). He insists that the school's mascot and other "offensive" imagery — including its use of harem girls in marching band parades and a belly dancer half-time show — are classic examples of Orientalism,a term coined by late scholar Edward Said to describe Western depictions of Middle Eastern, North African and Asian societies as backward and inferior. Ayoub said that in nearly 10 years of working in civil rights he has never encountered a more egregious case of stereotyping. "And what makes it worse is that it's coming from a school district," Therefore if we change it, there will be no criticizing or stereotyping that culture.
Madelyn says that we should change controversial mascots but I say we shouldn't because Native American mascots in general are not naturally offensive. A Native American mascot doesn't "mock" Native Americans any more than a tiger mascot "mocks" animals; any more than a Trojan mascot "mocks" the culture of Ancient Greece; any more than a hoosier mascot "mocks" those from Indiana. Therefore if we change one mascot, other people are going to get offended by other mascots, so we would have to change more than just Native American mascots.
They say that we should change mascots but I say we shouldn't because a lot of people think it is a honor to have a mascot named after their tribe or name. For example Even some Native American groups view mascots as a source of pride. Florida State University kept its Seminoles nickname after receiving support from the Seminoles tribes. Therefore people will have more pride in the mascots than feeling offensive.
They say that we shouldn't change mascots, but I say we should because it is criticizing that culture, for an example, Abel Cooper remembers taking his daughter to a high school football game once and watching as a cheerleader came running onto the field wearing what looked like a Native American
headdress and buckskin clothing. The opposing team called themselves the Warriors and the teenage girl flipped around and did cartwheels for the entertainment of the fans in the stands. Mr. Cooper, a full-blooded American Indian, said his daughter became so offended, her eyes filled with tears and she asked if they could leave. Therefore people wont be offended by controversial mascots.
