Irene Y.
Racism is all around the world. People see it everywhere and yet, not everyone takes action. Ward Churchill’s readings, Lets Spread the “Fun” Around and Confronting Columbus Day, discuss the issue of racism and justice. In Lets Spread the “Fun” Around, he scrutinizes the racism in the names and rituals of certain professional and collegiate sports teams. Most people do not recognize this kind of racism channeled through ads and sponsors because they praise the actual sport so much that they forget the feelings of others. Churchill’s Confronting Columbus Day talks about why protesters were against Columbus Day. What most Americans celebrate is actually a holiday that resulted in a near extinction of the Native American culture. This passage compares historical and current genocides to what Christopher Columbus had done to show that it is similar in many ways. I agree with Churchill’s point of view on both conditions.
Many sports teams have names that have the word “Indian” in it or “Red Skins”, and this could offend Native Americans. Churchill uses other professional team names such as the Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians…etc. The images of the team logos are also somewhat affiliated with Native American cultures. The owners of the teams should respect the Native Americans and change them, however, they say that it is all in “good fun”. I definitely do not agree with the team owners because, as Churchill illustrates, if a team was called “niggers”, almost the country would be angry. I like the examples Churchill uses to show that mascots are also very stereotypical; since the mascot of the Braves is the tomahawk chop, Churchill asks how people would feel if there was an African dressed up in a leopard skin running around with spears as a mascot. His examples are very straight-forward and that is what people need to get clear and understandable messages.
Columbus Day has been a memorable holiday for many of us Americans. We are thankful for his discovery of America, however, many of us do not contemplate on HOW and WHAT he did to established colonies here. In Churchill’s reading, he mentions that the process Columbus took to establish America as America is very much alike the genocides in the past. He even compares him to Hitler at one point in the article. Just as Churchill believes, I also agree that genocides are not only about mass murder of a race. They destroy people’s cultural identity and their social and economic systems. I realized that what we might celebrate as a patriotic holiday for us might be a sensitive day for other races. I thought about Thanksgiving after I started to wonder if there were other holidays that are connected with the Native Americans.
Today, we should keep an eye out for these subliminal racist messages in our daily lives and protest for the respect of the people. Just like a local newspaper in Portland Oregon, we should all try calling the Washington Redskins the Washington Team. The way Churchill perceives the way many American traditions are is very critical. He is very opinionated about the topics of American culture such as football or Columbus Day and I can understand where he is coming from with such passion. I sometimes see some racist ads or stereotypes about Chinese people and it offends me too. Churchill’s articles have brought up interesting topics related to racism and justice.
The URL leads to a googled image of the Washington Redskins football team. Its logo has a Native American and a feather dangling on the side of the man’s head and the helmet.
http://artfiles.art.com/5/p/LRG/10/1060/9LVL000Z/washington-redskins-helmet-logo.jpg
