ESPN on-air personality Bomani Jones has sparked a bit of controversy, do to his wearing a t-shirt that parodies the famous Cleveland Indians mascot. The funny thing is how the irony is completely lost on people who are hopping mad about the racism on display. http://deadspin.com/bomani-jones-wears-shirt-1769642578
Fighting Irish or Boston Celtics, anyone?? Same difference. Racially insensitive is not the same as a racially derogatory or being offensive.
Disagree with you here, in both of the examples you list above those mascot names were chosen by the same people who own/founded the team/university, And we're naming their teams after themselves not another culture who has been decimated almost to the point of extinction, and still to this day have systemic serious problems that stem from extreme prejudice and marginalization.
I find it hilarious and not one bit racially insensitive or otherwise. Besides, it should have said Honkey or sunshiny to be a true reference to the Cleveland team. This T shirt is quite polite. Lol
I was only referring to those who were offended by the name 'Cleveland Caucasians' as new alternate name for the 'Cleveland Indians'.
I think it's great! To eliminate all future protesting..l actually now think every sports team name that there is an issue with, should be changed to solely reflect the word CAUCASIAN And Or Whites in the team name, the mascots, et al. For example, the Washington Redskins name - discard it in the trash, let's go with, The Washington CAUCASIAN Bravehearts! After all, l believe Caucasians invented the sports and created the teams, so all aspects of it should reflect that..
The problem with that is not that they are called the Indians. The fact that they have "Chief Wahoo" as the mascot is what's really offensive to Native Americans.
Exactly, its amazing that people can be ok with such a grotesque and insulting caricature of an entire people. It seems some people feel as long as it is a minority group with a very small population and not a lot of political clout it is just fine to continue insulting them on a national stage. Some around here would have been just fine with the name of the soccer team below.. "Dangerous Darkies Two historically renowned culprits of racism combined for this terrible team name: South Africa and professional soccer. This team played two years before changing its name. And it wasn’t a sudden moment of clarity – they simply changed because they were combining with another team in the late 1990’s. Now, they’re the Mpumalanga Black Aces, a Premier Soccer League team (which is not the English Premier League)."
I am sorry but something tells me African Americans dont give a fuck about racial discrimination unless it is towards an African American.
This thread is about an African-American man calling to attention the casual racism against Native people.
I would say racial insensitivity. The Chief Wahoo is a grotesque caricature and demeaning IMO, but the name 'Cleveland Indians' is not. I still think non-Indians are more offended by the use of Native American imagery and names in American pop culture than actual Native Americans.
There is plenty of outrage from Native Americans on this issue, although it is true that not all agree, as with any group of people there is disagreement. The article below does a good job showing the outrage... “We are just getting so tired of it,” Burunda, a Vietnam War veteran, said after the face-painted man went inside the stadium. “We just don’t want our people, our culture, our heritage, to be portrayed as a mascot. I don’t think any ethnic group would like that. But they ignore this and think it’s funny, because in their minds we don’t exist and never have.” http://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...f-wahoo-logo-at-cleveland-indians-home-opener
From what I was reading up on yesterday, the Cleveland Indians have moved away from Chief Wahoo over the last decade, creating other "mascots" (though Chief Wahoo was never a mascot according to the team, and it was created in the 1950's by a 17 yr-old teen who was drawing off of cartoon styles of that era.)
The team knows they are in the wrong, using that disgusting caricature, their director of communications said the following below, very telling... "Curtis Danberg, the Indians’ senior director of communications, did say something very interesting, however, when I brought up the new spring training uniforms. “Spring training’s a different animal,” he said, “and when we’ve been in Arizona, we’ve really focused on the block C—being in that region, in that area, we’re certainly cognizant of that.” In other words, it is apparently one thing to use the chief while in the eastern Midwest, but quite another to use him in the southwest, where (whispered voice) there are actual Native Americans. And the first year the Indians did spring training in Goodyear, Arizona, after having spent the past decade-and-a-half in Florida, was … 2009, the year they first started playing around with the block C in a bigger way. Cynical? Democratic? Whatever it takes to ditch Chief Wahoo."
I don't know about what they may have done over the last decade, but to say he never was a mascot is a lie. People kill me with all of the ridiculous lies.
It's the other way around actually. I'm glad he did this, shows exactly how hypocritical americans are.
Someone, somewhere, a white person thinks that that black man is cheering for white people everywhere.
