 |
| The Star Democrat 7/6/2001 |
"They (American Indians) are a marginal group that is out on the fringes," said Paul Bauer, professor of sociology at Cecil Community College. "They have no power, they have no political clout, there aren't enough of them to be able to determine what vocabulary can be used by society. It is the majority that decides what is acceptable vocabulary to use, not the minority. The dominant culture chooses the language, and they are not the dominant culture. I'm sorry if that sounds cruel, but that is exactly how it works in the real world." Bruer also said he doesn't see what is offensive about the use of these mascots. (Editorial comment: Someone's in the wrong profession.)
Said Margaret Anderson, a professor of sociology at the University of Delaware who teaches courses in racial and ethnic sociology, "We wouldn't consider using the race of other minority groups as a school mascot. But the Indians were so annihilated that we seem to forget them. They are less than 2 percent of the population. If the truth about American Indian history was taught in schools, including the exploitation of them, people may be better able to understand why they are offended."
Dixie Henry, director of the state Commission on Indian Affairs who is also of American Indian descent said views like Bruer's are the brick wall American Indians keep running into when trying to clarify their views about the offensiveness of the mascots. "We have told them we are offended by the use of our culture and heritage for their mascots, and they say that it wasn't intended to be offensive, but if we say it is offensive to us then why can't they hear us? I often wonder why they think it is all right to use our race as a mascot, when they wouldn't consider using the name of another race as a mascot."
Anderson said the American Indian mascot enshrine stereotypes of a race of people that perpetuate misconceptions about inaccuracies about them.