Mascots and Offense

Regarding the film “In Whose Honor” about Native American mascots, I was shocked how emotional the main woman was about seeing the Native American mascot at a basketball game. Personally, I think she was being a little overdramatic with her insistence that things that she was taught to respect were being mimicked for entertainment purposes. Yes, it is true that entertainment was the goal, but the intent was not to offend anyone. I think she was so emotional about the whole thing because she is so connected to her heritage and culture. I have a friend that is part Native American and she goes to Florida State University, whose mascot is the Seminoles, and she finds no offense to it whatsoever. The fact that the mascot is the Seminoles was not a deciding factor when applying to the school, or when deciding to attend. But then again, she is not extremely involved in her Native American heritage like the woman from the film was.

I think that really there isn’t a huge reason to change these mascots. But if it is going to prove to be more trouble than it is worth, the school might as well change them. I think that some people will be offended no matter what the mascot is changed to. You can never please everyone. In cases like these, I feel that it is important for those who feel offended to think about the intent of the mascot. If the mascot was chosen to represent an authority figure that commands respect, then shouldn’t people be proud? Because I don’t have an opposition or direct cultural connection to these mascots, I find it hard to understand why this huge controversy exists.

The idea of Native Americans being mimicked and portrayed out of tradition brings up a topic which we discussed earlier in class, Halloween costumes. A few people in class seemed very opposed to dressing up like Native Americans. Personally, I find nothing wrong with this. One of the things I dressed up as this past Halloween was a cowgirl. I ask, am I offending cowboys in the west when I wear this outfit? Will I really offend people if I decide to be a Native American next Halloween? What if, my eight year old sister just loves Pocahontas, a Disney character, and wants to be her for Halloween. Is that just as offensive? What if she decides to be Jasmine, a Disney princess, who is Middle Eastern, will she offend people from the Middle East? If she is Mulan, will she offend the Chinese? Where and how do we decide what is offensive or acceptable? I feel that because everyone finds different things offensive, it is impossible to get rid of all mascots that people find offensive. It is impossible to simply draw the line that defines what you can do that is acceptable and what is offensive. It is going to be different in every case, under every circumstance. No matter what, to some extent, there will be controversy.