Quote:
Originally posted by ThurgreedMarshall
How do you figger?
Pick any other race and make them a fuckin' mascot and then ask yourself what that does as far as reinforcing stereotypes, trivializing racist attitudes toward that race and generally just offending the fuck out of a bunch of people.
And why should it not be changed? Because the people who went or go to that school are used to it? Tradition? Kiss my ass.
The St. John's Redmen went to the Red Storm, it didn't affect the school, the players, the fans or the alumni one bit. There was the initial uproar and then they realized it's all the same shit.
It's the people who hang on to these types of things who have problems. And the "real" racism is built on bullshit like this. It's an attitude toward people that manifests itself in many ways. One being, designing your school's fucking mascot after a race of people.
And the Redskins? Are you serious?
"Hey! I'm Native American and I find that offensive."
"Shut the fuck up you oversensitive, PC loser! Come back when you've experienced some real racism. What's the world coming to when we have to be worried about offending some injuns?"
You gotta be fucking kidding me.
TM
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I don't see ethnic stereotyping in mascots as racist. The distincyion is subtle, but important.
Racism, as I understand it, is the classic "blacks should be separate" or "whites are more advanced than blacks, etc..." attitudes. It is an offshoot of slavery and the prevailing attitudes that made slavery acceptable in its time. Nobody is saying that Native Americans are less human than anyone else when they use the Seminole mascot. In fact, having read about what warriors, the Seminoles were (fucking up all sorts of Union Troops sent to kill them), its kind of a nod to state heritage, and a bit of a compliment. I mean, here's a school of drunk white kids who have an Indian as their mascot. But that's sort of an aside. My real point is that racism shouldn't be confused with ethnic insensitivity. I think the black/white base of racism is unique, and using the term "racism" to cover things like bad choice of mascots degrades the very specific and ongoing issue of racism that still exists today. I guess, simply put, racism to me is a black/white thing.
I get ticked when I hear people refer to anything as a "new racism" or a "modern Holocaust." I just don't think the two can be used as analogies to ethnic insensitivity. Perhaps I'm being too narrow in my definitions... You could say its nothing more than a semantic objection on my part - that "ethnic insensitivity" and "racism" are interchangeable. But I don't think so.
