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Mascots should be changed
I have to say that I am getting tired of hearing about the mascot issue. I also have to add that I agree with the people who want the mascots changed, but for a completely different reason.
When I was growing up, my friends and I used to emulate Native Americans. We used to go into the woods and build forts, make bows and arrows, and pretend to hunt like the great Indian hunters used to do. Since I’ve grown up, and am more aware of the people and politics of the world around me, my attitude about Native Americans has changed significantly.
I read the paper more, and watch the news occasionally. In the past, I remember hearing the Native Americans calling for the return of their traditional hunting rights and lands. They got most of what they were asking for. Now they can spear walleyes from boats with 3,000,000 candlepower spotlights, and hunt deer out of vehicles just like they used to do before the arrival of the white devils. I don’t have the right to do these same things. Why not? I have ancestors who used to hunt to stay alive just like they do, and I would also like to return to these times.
Another thing that I’ve always wanted to do is start my own casino, but I can’t because of the color of my skin. I don’t have the right heritage to have the right to do this. That’s too bad, I hear it’s a very profitable business. But Native Americans have the right to own and run casinos. Why do they have a right to do this? Why don’t I have the same rights as they do?
Now I keep hearing that the Native Americans are calling for the changing of all of the mascots that have a Native American theme. They say that the names and pictures are offensive and we shouldn’t have the right to name things what we want. So not only do the Native Americans already have more rights than everyone else, they are also trying to take away more of our rights, the right to call something what we want to call it.
The reason that the schools and teams chose a Native American symbol in the first place was because it was a symbol of power. Native Americans were thought to be strong and cunning. I used to think this way. I used to look at a picture of a Native American tribal chief and think power, skill, and cunning. Now my attitude has changed.
For me, a Native American symbol doesn’t stand for the same things anymore. It doesn’t stand for strength, and it doesn’t stand for cunning. It stands for a people who have more rights than I do, and a people who are trying to take away another right of mine, my freedom of speech.
So I do agree that the mascots should be changed. Not because they’re offensive, but because they don’t stand for anything anymore. The Native American symbol of strength is no longer a symbol of strength; it’s now a hollow symbol that doesn’t have any meaning.
Brett Colgrove
Sophomore,
Mechanical Engineering
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