It is no stretch to see the racism inherent in the grinning buck-toothed American Indian wearing a feather who represents the Cleveland Indians. The same sorts of people then said that Aunt Jemimah was honoring black people, really a benign figure representing motherhood and nurturing. They say that they are really honoring American Indians and the qualities of courage and manhood. For us, the reality is that these names and these images are demeaning. They ridicule our dress, our tradition and our culture.
Racist images turn people into stereotypes and objects.
As world history has shown clearly, especially in the past century, once turned into non-human objects, all manner of cruelty can be practiced against the victim. In the context of racism, words and images do not only mean what they say. They are endowed with complex meanings, of the history of marginalized people, of the perceptions of the dominant culture and its historical relation to oppressed people. The language we use is a reflection of our cultural values and if American Indian names are used for mascots, in racist or sacrilegious ways, then our culture is saying that American Indians are less than the other members of this society. Mascots perpetuate stereotypes about American Indians, involve the misappropriation of the American Indian cultural identity, and often include the display or depiction of symbols and practices having a religious significance to American Indians.