VanLoo 1

Peter VanLoo
Professor Lawson
ENGL 115
September 10th, 2015
Word Count 652
Rhetorical Analysis: I Am Not a Mascot Page 299
Whether a fan or not, sports make an appearance in everyones lives, but some sports
teams alienate certain races of people by their downright racist mascots and traditions. This is the
claim that Philip J. Deloria, a history professor passionate about the negative adoption of Native
American symbols and chants in sports arenas. Across many sports there are American Indian
themed teams, ranging from the respectful Atlanta Braves in baseball to the racial slur inspired
Washington Redskins in football. With these teams there are chants, cheers, and rituals that
diehard fans perform without a second thought, because well, thats been the way its always
been. Deloria is opposed to the notion that a blind eye is turned to this racist and degrading
activity. By writing this article Deloria is trying to expose the demeaning treatment of a race with
hundreds of years of being mistreated by the non-Native Americans. The author cites several
examples of fans getting out of hand by chanting war cries, an overly stereotyped Indigenous
American mascot (war paint and all) dancing a foolish dance, or worst of all a home run tradition
for the Atlanta Braves where a painted mascot by the name Chief Noc-A-Homa comes out and
performs a tomahawk chop. Being an avid baseball fan I was well aware of the Atlanta Braves,
but not of their traditions. Just the name in itself is not offensive, however it in combination with
the homerun mascot and the tomahawk chop, is very offensive to a race of people that has
endured centuries of hardships and mistreatment. I agree with Delorias claims because this is an

VanLoo 2
issue that has plagued sports by promoting negative stereotypes while ignoring rich culture and
heritage that the American Indians have to offer. I do not doubt any of the claims in this article
because at sporting events almost everyone has mob mentality, and that combined with the
typical alcohol being sold at these venues, can result in people not thinking about the actions or
chants they are performing. This article is very well organized, giving enough context where it is
needed, and bringing the correct tone of seriousness to an issue as sensitive as this one. The
author does not insert any jokes, keeping a sincere caring tone throughout the piece, which
reinforces how serious the issue at hand is. I believe that in an ideal world there should be a
political correctness committee where they review the practices of each team to see if they are
promoting a positive image of racial and cultural tolerance, or if they are casting a negative light
on a certain race. In an ideal world fans would abide by the rulings of this committee, and respect
if they deemed the chants or traditions racist. However, we do not live in an ideal world, and
intolerance exists where people do not care if they are being racist or they do not believe that
they are being offensive. While it is not ideal the only possible solution I see is to outright ban
any Indigenous American themed sports names, as that is the only way to fix the racism in
sports. With over 574 teams with either the name Indians, Braves, or Warriors there are far too
many teams to do a case by case review, so the easiest way to solve this problem is to tell the
team to rename themselves, since it is only a name. This solution will encounter resistance, but
within even 10 years only the die hard fans will be upset over having to change the name of their
favorite sports team. Even with these fans being disgruntled over the name change it would be
far from the first time a sports franchise have reinvented their brand in a more positive light.