Monday, August 15, 2005

Indian nicknames

In response to the comment to the post below, I forgot to mention while I do not believe in trying to convince people something they find offensive is not, in fact, offensive, I still support a team's or college's right to use a nickname.
In my mind, it is a case of agreeing to disagree. This era is far more focused on cultural sensitivity than the eras when most of these professional and college teams first received their monikers. But the teams now have a long-standing investment in those names, and most don't want to risk alineating their mostly non-Native American fan bases by undergoing a total identity change in the name of appeasing a few. Fans vote with their pocketbooks, and if a team or college sells merchandise with their Native American nickname and logo attached, of course they want to keep it.
I can understand that. Nobody said business was soft and cuddly.
I'll hit close to my own home and use the case study of the Cleveland Indians, who have had their nickname since 1915, and have used a stereotypical caricature of an Indian as their primary logo since the late 1940s.
This might surprise a few readers, but I don't totally support the Indians in their use of the caricature, which became known as "Chief Wahoo." Teams change logos all the time, and if the Indians one day decided they wanted a more culturally sensitive logo (like the Class AAA Indianapolis Indians), I'd have no problem with that.
However, I think changing the nickname "Indians" is going too far. That's the team's identity going back 90 years.
Changing a team logo is like painting your house. Changing a nickname is like legally changing your surname.
I think most of the people who have a problem with the Indians' appearance have a problem primarily with Chief Wahoo. In my experience, that's where the protestors have drawn the line.
(Ironically, the Washington Redskins are probably the reverse of the Indians, with a helmet logo featuring a dignified-looking Indian man, and a racial slur for a nickname. That's why this issue is so complex.)

Thanks to all my commenters, and keep reading.

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