Why An Insulting Sports Team Name?
Sports team mascot names can be offensive to the people who are the object of the name and the resulting caricature that do not represent reality.
The Washington Redskins NFL football team has come under criticism over the years for the use of the team name, Redskins, which is a racial slur against American Indians who have protested the use of this name since the 1960s. Any name that refers to the color of the skin of a group of people is unquestionably racists and degrading. Imagine if a sports team was named the Darkies. That would not stand for long.
There are many other sports teams with names that have been deemed offensive to American Indians like: Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, and others in the United States and Canada. These names are used at high schools and colleges in addition to professional sports teams.
In 1999 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) passed a resolution which, in part said,
“Be It Finally Resolved, that the National NAACP call upon all professional sports teams, and public and private schools and universities currently using such names and images to reject the use of Native Americans, and all historically oppressed people and their cultural traditions, as sports mascots and symbols, and affirm their commitment to respectful racial and cultural inclusion in all aspects of their institutions.”
We have not come as far as we would like to believe in recognizing the rights of different cultures to be respected and not stereotyped or generalized by images, perceived behavior or ideas. These ideas and images were created by other cultures to represent what they thought about other peoples with little first hand knowledge or understanding — such as the stereotypes created by Europeans about American Indians.
But what about other sports team mascot names that have not been signaled out as offensive? Like the Minnesota Vikings for instance. Vikings were Norsemen who went on a vik, which is a raid on other people for the purpose of stealing, raping and pillaging. They were commonly thought of as pirates during their time. After the vik was over the Norsemen were no longer Vikings until the next raid.
Yet, modern day Norsemen (people from Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark) have not complained about the use of Viking as a team mascot. Nor have some of their decedents who live in Minnesota. Why is that? Why are Norsemen not offended by the use of the term Viking as a team mascot and the resulting caricature of their ancestors? The Minnesota Viking mascot wears a helmet with horns. This was not a type of helmet worn by real Vikings. It is a made up caricature for the entertainment of sports fans just like the image of American Indians we see portrayed by the Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Braves, and Cleveland Indians. Yet, modern day decedents of the Norsemen who were Vikings are OK with the use of the Viking mascot.
The Boston Celtics are also not an offensive mascot name even though they refer to a group of people. This is quite different than other mascot names because Celtics is an accurate name of a “branch of the Indo-European family and include Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Breton, Manx, Cornish, and several extinct pre-Roman languages such as Gaulish” according to the Apple Dictionary. Using Celtics as a mascot name is like using Americans or Canadians.
The New York Yankees name is not considered offensive by anyone that I know of even though it has a history of being “often derogatory — a person who lives in, or is from, the US” according to the Apple Dictionary. Yankee also refers to people from New England and to soldiers of the Union Army during the US Civil War. But when the name is given to a New York team, by that New York team, which is part of New England, it cannot be offensive. Unless one is from the South, like I am originally, where the term Yankee is not a compliment.
I have reviewed the names of the teams in Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basket Ball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL) and placed each team mascot into one of the following categories: Peoples, Animals, Places, Mythical or Religious Beings, Individual Person, Inanimate Object, Categories of People (such as occupation or activities), Article of Clothing, and Other.
Animals are the most popular category of team names with 30 teams followed by Categories of People (such as occupation or activities) with 23 teams. Peoples have 8 teams and 5 of those may be offensive to American Indians.
There is no shortage of team names available that would be cool and inspire a great logo and mascot. Why would a team owner and the league continue to allow offensive names to be used? The season of Jim Crow is past and women can vote!
In the 21st Century we should eliminate these offensive names. It is the right thing to do.
Below are the team mascots by categories with the number for each category:
Peoples (8)
MLB
New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves
NBA
Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors
NFL
Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings
Animals (30)
MLB
Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks
NBA
Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans
NFL
Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks
Places (5)
MLB
Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies
NBA
Los Angeles Lakers
NFL
Mythical or Religious Beings (5)
MLB
Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets
NBA
Washington Wizards
NFL
Tennessee Titans, New Orleans Saints
Individual Person (2)
MLB
NBA
NFL
Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns
Inanimate Object (8)
MLB
NBA
Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs
NFL
New York Jets
Categories of People (such as occupation or activities) (23)
MLB
Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants
NBA
Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks
NFL
New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers
Article of Clothing (4)
MLB
Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds
NBA
New York Knickerbockers
NFL
Other (7)
MLB
Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros
NBA
Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz
NFL
Los Angeles Chargers