Our mascot: not something to be proud of
Imagine what would happen if our school’s mascot was the Asians. The logo could be a Chinese guy holding a calculator, and we would be encouraged to dress up as Asians to show school spirit.
This would be considered highly offensive, wouldn’t it? If this as a mascot would be taken as racist, why is it at all acceptable for our mascot to be an Indian wearing a feather headdress wielding a spear?
The blatant racism of teams being given names of tribes, or like our school, simply being called the Indians, is something many people, especially around here, might not even realize.
People in our country seem to be very aware of the discrimination that has been shown towards different racial groups over our nations’ history. They further notice the acts of racism that still occur today, but it seems as if no one even sees the racism toward Native Americans.
People don’t seem to understand how horribly this country has treated Native Americans from the very beginning of colonization. It was genocide, a holocaust really, as Europeans came and forced natives out of their lands, killing them off by the thousands.
Some still seem to have crazy ideas about Native American culture. People tend to judge an entire culture based off of how the media has inaccurately portrayed Native Americans for decades and decades.
Are we really going to continue to portray Native Americans as barbaric, animal-like people? I mean, Indians are in the same category as animals such as tigers, cougars, wildcats and bears.
Sports teams are typically named after things that are known to be brave and strong, but have a distinct lack of humanity.
We are not honoring or showing respect for American Indians by having our mascot be a chief in a headdress, but stereotyping and ridiculing them.
The school has been mocking a beautiful and misunderstood culture for decades, and I feel like it’s about time for this hideous tradition to end.
16bmathias@usd489.com
Brianna Mathias is a senior and this is her third year of being on the Guidon staff. She is a co-editor-in-chief and loves newspaper. She likes bees, folk-punk,...
Alanna Hansen • Feb 25, 2015 at 2:53 pm
Just as anything could be tied to racism, you are taking something and blowing it way out of proportion, the Washington Redskins have been active since 1932 and no one has had such a problem to wanting the change of the name and mascot since the last few years. Why all of the sudden is this becoming a big deal? If you don’t want to be and Indian and find it a problem then transfer.
Trenton Flora • Nov 12, 2014 at 10:44 am
I personally think that our mascot is a great one, if you play sports at Hays High you know that we are not being racist towards their culture or towards the native american people. Comments like “Play as tribe(family).” or “be an indian play with relentless effort.” Are not offensive at all to the native american people, In my opinion I believe this article is wrong and from only one view point. I am proud to be a Hays High Indian.
Joe Factor • Nov 7, 2014 at 4:34 pm
While there are people who are indeed offended by such mascots, (like the controversy with the Washington Redskins) I myself do believe that people are in fact blowing this a little too out of proportion and are a little too quick to take offense. These mascots are chosen because of how great of warriors the Native Americans were. This isn’t, in my opinion, racism but rather envy.
Sage Markley • Nov 7, 2014 at 12:36 pm
Are we honestly offending the Native Americans? I think that we are showing respect to them more than we are offending them.
Alex Feyerherm • Nov 6, 2014 at 7:43 pm
I agree with some of the points in this article, such has how poorly Native Americans were treated once European settlers came over – however, it begs the question: who are we to decide what is “offensive” or “unoffensive” to an entire race of people? Many of the people who fight for political correctness aren’t even part of the groups that are supposed to be offended, seeming to suggest that we are making this out to be a bigger problem than it actually is.
Rachelle Lumpkins • Nov 6, 2014 at 9:30 am
This is a great article. You should ask around to and ask people if they feel proud of our mascots. There is a guy named Joe Factor who is almost 100% Native American. It was a great article. Always love to read your work!