issue 14 / volume 40 sports // 21 The Washington Redskins are often pointed to as an example of an inappropriate team name // By Keith Allison/Flickr Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) What's in a name: sports teams, mascots, and racism » Looking at the impact of a potentially racist name with school logos and team names Kimberley Hartwig, Contributor (The Sheaf) he debate surrounding potentially offensive sports team names and mascots has been raging for decades and has now taken hold in Saskatoon. One area high school, Bedford Road Collegiate Institute, is bearing the brunt of the criticism. The school, whose team name is the Redmen and logo is a profile of a First Nations man, has come under fire. Bedford Road graduate and current University of Saskatchewan student Erica Lee re-ignited a movement—which began in 1996—to change the schools moniker and logo in 201 when she made a Facebook page called “Bedford Road Redmen: It’s Time fora Change.” Lee was inspired to fight for change after a teacher gave her an article about the implications behind First Nations mascots and logos. “It’s something that I think a lot of people don’t realize, that they’re actively supporting racism, she said. “I think that it’s just something we don’t talk : : teams still use a similar name : and logo or a variation on the : theme. about... we’re so used to things like that now so we don’t even question it.” The Redmen aren't the only remaining high school, collegiate, or professional sports team to bear a questionable mascot or name. A high school in California call themselves the Coachella Valley Arabs and there are well : known professional teams such : as the Washington Redskins in : the National Football League : and the Cleveland Indians in : Major League Baseball. In total there are nine high : schools that use the name : Redskins in Canada and the : United States and many more : who use names derived from : aboriginal peoples. However, many teams : who were once portrayed by : culturally loaded mascots have : changed to something more : benign. A high school in Illinois : changed their name from the : Pekin Chinks to the Pekin : Dragons in 1980 and up until : 1972 Stanford University’s : mascot was the Stanford Indian. : The school changed their name : to the Cardinals (the colour) : and their mascot to a tree. Stanford University : Ombudsperson Lois : Amsterdam stated ina petition : to change the mascot that “Stanford’s continued use of the Indian symbol in the : 1970's brings up to visibility a painful lack of sensitivity and : awareness on the part of the : University.” Forty years later, many In recent decades there has : been a strong push to abolish : harmful mascots, including : an extensive policy to remove : negative images established by : the National Collegiate Athletic : Association (NCAA). Calls to : change the name of the Bedford : Collegiate Redmen have also : been supported by various : members of the University of : Saskatchewan community, one : of which is the Department of : Educational Foundations in the : College of Education. In an email sent to CTV, : department head Diane Miller : wrote, “The idea that such : logos and mascots are positive : representations of Indigenous : peoples is false. These images : spring from centuries-old racist : discourses... The Department : of Educational Foundations : agrees that it is time to stop : pretending that stereotyping is : an honour. It is racism.” No professional team has : taken ona name or logo that : uses racial stereotypes in name : or imagery since 1963 but many : pre-established images, such : as the Cleveland Indians’ Chief : Wahoo, continue to exist. Chief Wahoo is becoming harder to spot on the Cleveland : Indians’ uniforms. A common defence of fans : and owners of sports teams : with racially charged images : is that the mascot is meant : to honour the people of its : likeness or to reflect their : proud history. This assumption : continues to unravel as more : and more individuals who are : meant to be “honoured” refute : this myth. “T know that a lot of people : will see Redman, Redskins, : native logos as an honour, : but the fact is that there are : more and more native people : that aren’t comfortable with : this representation and it can : lead easily to a lot of negative : stereotypes and negative images : of Native American people and : First Nations people,” said Lee. It’s hard to imagine how : this name can be taken as : an honour when the Oxford : Dictionary lists the term : “Redman” as dated and : offensive and is commonly seen : asa racial slur. At one time, : this name and others like it : had less loaded meanings, but : connotations have become : more negative over time. Despite being dropped : from current use and Redmen : being a pejorative term, many : schools still feel it’s appropriate : to bear on their jerseys and : trophies. These names were : not adopted by schools many : decades ago with the intent : to offend, but the cultural : stereotypes they espouse should : : be assessed from a modern : standpoint. “People get defensive : because they think we're calling : them racist, but the point is : that a lot of people [are] not : looking at it and questioning it,” Lee said. “They’re not seeing : it as a representation of people : even though it’s the face of a : Native American. They'll just : see it asa logo and not really : asa person or as a symbol of : anything.” These names and mascots : present a caricature of real, : living people and cultures that : are continually evolving, while : the depictions rest in past : stereotypes. “One argument is that : when people look at that logo, : they don’t see people; they see a : mascot when in reality it’s this : weird sort of distorted reality : of what First Nations culture is : actually like,” Lee said. Another argument against : changing names and mascots : is that it’s part of the team’s : history and that the vast : majority of fans aren't bothered : by these depictions. But more : often than not, it’s people who : have no cultural ties to the : representations who claim they : are harmless. In the case of the Bedford : Road Redmen, those who cling : to the school’s proud tradition : may be ignoring an entirely : separate history. “The weird part about this : is that it’s a primarily white : school board and Bedford : Road school and teachers and : students that [are] holding on to this logo and claiming it’s : their tradition,” Lee said. Other detractors say that : the fight to change these names : is just another in the battle : for all-encompassing political : correctness. Lee sees doing away : with the old as a way for First : Nations people to reclaim their : present and future identities. “T think that it will show : that First Nations people : are reclaiming their right to : represent themselves as they : see fit,” she said. As for whether or not the : mascot and name at Bedford : Road will eventually change, : Lee is optimistic the school : will adopt something that all : students can be proud of. “T think it’s coming,” she : said. “I think it’s inevitable.”