The landscape of American sports has been entrenched in racism since its inception. Thankfully, we as a society have started to take the issue much more seriously, taking steps to fix the most glaringly insensitive issues in recent years.
However, this is not the kind of thing that can disappear overnight. I’m not trying to rag on the Kansas City Chiefs every week, but I saw more discourse surrounding their team during the Super Bowl this year discussing their team name, the “tomahawk chop” that their fans are known for, or their “war chant” than I’ve seen in the past.
“The anti-Native mascot movement has always been about the betterment of our Native people, not hatred towards others who are football fans,” said Amanda Blackhorse, who is a member of the Navajo people. “We want to live in a world where our children can attend school and feel included and not met with reenactments of fake war dances on the football field.”
Carefully observing our history is one of the best ways for us to move forward. That said, let’s look back at some of the other problematic teams and traditions in American sports, the ways they’ve gone about correcting those mistakes, and then circle back around to the Chiefs and what needs to be done about them.
The most talked about example comes from the previous name for the Washington Football Team. I’m not going to repeat the original name because it’s a slur towards Native Americans. I don’t understand how they could possibly excuse using it as their name and logo all the way up until 2020, when they finally changed it.
What’s even more disheartening about it is that they wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for a push in the right direction from their stadium’s sponsor, FedEx. The owner of the team, Daniel Snyder, had been quoted saying he would never change the name. However, when FedEx put out a statement saying, “We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name,” the ball started rolling, and there wasn’t much else they could do to defend keeping it.
Equally as offensive, the Cleveland Indians baseball team took their first step towards fixing their team in 2018 when they finally got rid of the offensive “Chief Wahoo” cartoon mascot. In late 2021, they finally took the step to abandon the team name entirely and become the Cleveland Guardians. I don’t understand why every team that gets rid of an insensitive name has to choose the most boring possible alternative. Maybe they see it as their penance.
Remaining on the topic of baseball, the Atlanta Braves have been much more reluctant to consider change. They abandoned their mascot from the past twenty years, “Chief Noc-a-Homa,” which was a play on the expression “knock a homer” in 1986. I can’t believe this was ever considered acceptable. It’s truly astounding.
In 2012, they tried to reintroduce their “screaming savage” logo, which obviously received major pushback. They at least had the sense to remove it again fairly quickly, but this should clue you into the mindset of the people in charge. Shortly after Washington and Cleveland started the process of changing their names, the Braves management sent an email to their season ticket holders to assure them they had no intentions of doing the same. However, they said they would consider whether or not their “tomahawk chop” tradition was problematic.
Moving into hockey, the Chicago Blackhawks have taken the Braves’ approach to the criticism of their name and logo by admitting they have no intentions of evolving. In 2010, they started to discourage their fans from dressing up in Native American headdresses like they were known for doing. Another team, the Winnipeg Jets, took the step to ban the offensive use of headdresses as fan cosplay from their stadium in 2015.
The Ole Miss Rebels were criticized for glorifying the Confederates with their mascot and team name. They got rid of their mascot in 2003, replacing it with a black bear for a while before settling on the shark they have now. They also renamed “Confederate Drive” on their campus and have distanced themselves from using “Dixie” as their team’s fight song.
This well runs embarrassingly deep. I could continue by telling you about the Florida State Seminoles or the days of the Syracuse “Orangemen.” However, I want to loop back around to the Chiefs briefly.
Briefly circling back around to the Chiefs, I’d like to leave you with a question. The NFL has been so quick to jump on the wave of masquerading as socially conscious now that it’s become more expected from the nation at large. However, how can they justify plastering the slogan “End Racism” on helmets and in end zones when they’re still actively encouraging the stereotyping of Native Americans by using their image and culture as a mascot, logo, team name, chant, tradition, or whatever else?
It’s absurdly tone-deaf. Hopefully, the positive changes will continue in the near future, but we have to pay attention and voice our frustrations; otherwise, they will continue to be silently perpetuated, and our complacency will be to blame.
Problematic sports team names
The landscape of American sports has been entrenched in racism since its inception. Thankfully, we as a society have started to take the issue much more seriously, taking steps to fix the most glaringly insensitive issues in recent years.
However, this is not the kind of thing that can disappear overnight. I’m not trying to rag on the Kansas City Chiefs every week, but I saw more discourse surrounding their team during the Super Bowl this year discussing their team name, the “tomahawk chop” that their fans are known for, or their “war chant” than I’ve seen in the past.
“The anti-Native mascot movement has always been about the betterment of our Native people, not hatred towards others who are football fans,” said Amanda Blackhorse, who is a member of the Navajo people. “We want to live in a world where our children can attend school and feel included and not met with reenactments of fake war dances on the football field.”
Carefully observing our history is one of the best ways for us to move forward. That said, let’s look back at some of the other problematic teams and traditions in American sports, the ways they’ve gone about correcting those mistakes, and then circle back around to the Chiefs and what needs to be done about them.
The most talked about example comes from the previous name for the Washington Football Team. I’m not going to repeat the original name because it’s a slur towards Native Americans. I don’t understand how they could possibly excuse using it as their name and logo all the way up until 2020, when they finally changed it.
What’s even more disheartening about it is that they wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for a push in the right direction from their stadium’s sponsor, FedEx. The owner of the team, Daniel Snyder, had been quoted saying he would never change the name. However, when FedEx put out a statement saying, “We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name,” the ball started rolling, and there wasn’t much else they could do to defend keeping it.
Equally as offensive, the Cleveland Indians baseball team took their first step towards fixing their team in 2018 when they finally got rid of the offensive “Chief Wahoo” cartoon mascot. In late 2021, they finally took the step to abandon the team name entirely and become the Cleveland Guardians. I don’t understand why every team that gets rid of an insensitive name has to choose the most boring possible alternative. Maybe they see it as their penance.
Remaining on the topic of baseball, the Atlanta Braves have been much more reluctant to consider change. They abandoned their mascot from the past twenty years, “Chief Noc-a-Homa,” which was a play on the expression “knock a homer” in 1986. I can’t believe this was ever considered acceptable. It’s truly astounding.
In 2012, they tried to reintroduce their “screaming savage” logo, which obviously received major pushback. They at least had the sense to remove it again fairly quickly, but this should clue you into the mindset of the people in charge. Shortly after Washington and Cleveland started the process of changing their names, the Braves management sent an email to their season ticket holders to assure them they had no intentions of doing the same. However, they said they would consider whether or not their “tomahawk chop” tradition was problematic.
Moving into hockey, the Chicago Blackhawks have taken the Braves’ approach to the criticism of their name and logo by admitting they have no intentions of evolving. In 2010, they started to discourage their fans from dressing up in Native American headdresses like they were known for doing. Another team, the Winnipeg Jets, took the step to ban the offensive use of headdresses as fan cosplay from their stadium in 2015.
The Ole Miss Rebels were criticized for glorifying the Confederates with their mascot and team name. They got rid of their mascot in 2003, replacing it with a black bear for a while before settling on the shark they have now. They also renamed “Confederate Drive” on their campus and have distanced themselves from using “Dixie” as their team’s fight song.
This well runs embarrassingly deep. I could continue by telling you about the Florida State Seminoles or the days of the Syracuse “Orangemen.” However, I want to loop back around to the Chiefs briefly.
Briefly circling back around to the Chiefs, I’d like to leave you with a question. The NFL has been so quick to jump on the wave of masquerading as socially conscious now that it’s become more expected from the nation at large. However, how can they justify plastering the slogan “End Racism” on helmets and in end zones when they’re still actively encouraging the stereotyping of Native Americans by using their image and culture as a mascot, logo, team name, chant, tradition, or whatever else?
It’s absurdly tone-deaf. Hopefully, the positive changes will continue in the near future, but we have to pay attention and voice our frustrations; otherwise, they will continue to be silently perpetuated, and our complacency will be to blame.