 |
The Cleveland Indians home opener came over the weekend. The picture above was taken before the game started. The old saying that a picture says a thousand words, well one thousand words is the minimum when you look at this one.
The man in the picture is Robert Roche, a Chiricahua Apache tribe member and Executive Director of the American Indian Education Center in Parma, OH. The man on the left is Pedro Rodriguez, a Cleveland Indians fan who is dressed as a "Cleveland Indian". Rodriguez is one of the fans who believe that the wacky way he dresses is all in good fun, but when you see the picture above are those the same feelings you endure?
So what is exactly in a name? Well if that name is depicting someone in a way that they would not want to be seen then what's in a name is simple, Pain.
The look on Roche's face says enough about how he feels regarding this fan disrespecting his ancestry "In good fun". From the red paint on his face to the cheaply made Native American head dress this looks like a mockery if I have ever seen one. I also have a lot of Native Americans in my family so this picture really hits home for me and is something I have deep feelings about.
Roche is a regular protester at Cleveland Indians home openers and here is what he had to say about it, "The issue is simple... We are not mascots. I'm nobody's mascot. My children are not mascots. It mocks us as a race of people. It mocks our religion."
As far as I am concerned, being a Mexican American, if this man was to dress up depicting any of my cultures in this way, I would be deeply offended as well. Now I understand wanting to go crazy for your team but the feeling alone that it brings to the individual that it is "Honoring" is sickening.
With all of the advocacy groups around the US it is hard to tell what group to believe in and what groups are just people complaining. Well, the groups hoping to change the names of franchises such as the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, and one the most disrespectful of them all, the Washington Redskins are ones that you can believe in. The Washington Redskins should have been forced to change their name ages ago but for some reason they continue to persuade the decision makers around them that calling a team "REDSKINS" is acceptable. This topic has been debated for years but it seems to really be picking up steam nowadays with regular protests at away games for many of these franchises.
We have already seen some changes to Universities that at one point in time used a Native American mascot and have since changed.
Marquette University may be the most widely known when they changed their mascot from the Warriors to the Golden Eagles in 1994 and the president of the University, Rev. Albert J DiUlio, stated "We live in a different era than when the Warriors nickname was selected in 1954. The perspective of time has shown us that our actions, intended or not, can offend others. We must not knowingly act in a way that others will believe, based on their experience, to be an attack on their dignity as fellow human beings."
Eastern Washington University who may have had the most obscene mascot, known as the Savages, made an early jump to make things for the better when they changed their mascot to the Eagles in 1973. The student body voted to make the name change because they deemed the old moniker, Savages, as no longer acceptable. Now how can a student body, which is full of 18 to 21 year old's, make the stance to change their schools name in the early 70's, while grown adults in ownership positions in the year 2014 be so set in their ways.
Now, I understand the comeback from the other side saying these names are honoring the Native Americans but I tell you what, you approach a random Native American and yell "Go Redskins" to him and see what his response is. My bet is that he doesn't take it too kindly. Now why is it that if you could not call a Native American a Redskin but a team a is supposedly honoring them with the name Redskin. It's absurd!
If America is all about changing for the better, for the future, why is it that when it comes to these kinds of ordeals we do nothing? We can vote for equal rights to all, to allow people of the same sex to get married, and legalize Marijuana but when it comes to having a backbone to racial issues we are in the same boat we were in 12 years ago when this cartoon was posted that looks eerily familiar to the picture above.
 |
We need to stand up America, and understand that times have changed and things of this nature are NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE!
Feel free to leave me comments with your thoughts on this topic, I would love to discuss this further.
No comments:
Post a Comment