Offensive Native American images

To the Editors:

Until this past Monday, I was never personally offended by Native American imagery and mascots in sports. Ya’ know, the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, and various packs of “Chiefs”, “Warriors” and “Braves” scattered throughout United States high schools and colleges. Even though I belong to the Cherokee tribe, it just never made any sense to me to get upset about something that’s going to go on with or without my approval. Why waste my time? Knowing that there were Native Americans who protest and spoke up, I just thought, “They shouldn’t waste their time either. Might as well ignore it.” But a film entitled “In Whose Honor?” changed my mind. The documentary exposes the true racism behind this use of Indian imagery.
Is it okay to mimic a people’s way of life, religion and dress as a means of entertainment? Of course not! The use of Black faces and images like Sambo have almost disappeared because we realized how hurtful and degrading they were towards Black people. The same should be true for Native Americans. In 2003 (and in all of our [Oberlin College’s] political correctness), why do we condone this? You’re thinking,“No we don’t!” Yes, we do.
Mr. Larry Dolan, the owner of the Cleveland Indians, sits on the board of trustees at this college. He makes money off his baseball team’s logo “Chief Wahoo,” thus openly endorsing this type of racism against a minority. I understand that the majority of the student body had no idea that Larry Dolan is on the board of trustees. Neither did I. But now I do. And now you do. We must not sit silent. To say nothing, to do nothing is to endorse it, to give a silent nod to racial discrimination within the college. This is our school. This is our community. Please stand with me and the members of the American Indian Council and the Indigenous Women’s Series to send a message to the administration that “This is not okay!” There are events regarding this issue that you can attend to support us and educate yourself.

—Rebecca Mills
College first-year