Indian Mascots Still Racist!

There is a new trend on the Stanford University campus, and it could be racist. I am talking about the pre-1970's Stanford Indians' Native American mascot. Native Appropriations blog writer Adrienne K., a resident Stanford student and person of Native American descent, finds the image blatantly racist.

In her article When offensive Indian mascots hit too close to home, K. explains how Stanford was the "Stanford Indians" until 1971, when student activists stood up against it. She explains she is not a savage in loin clothes, with a big nose and wild eyes. K. explains how using Native peoples as mascots depicts these them as mythical creatures, which, in effect, erases their humanity.

In defense, some people say that the image honors Native peoples. Adrienne's friend M. wrote a post on Facebook which she believes sums it up beautifully:

We would like to be honored by seeing our culture taken down from the shelves of costume shops. We would like to be honored by being consistently included as a whole racial demographic in social and scientific research. We would like to be honored by not being accused of taking some other student's place at Stanford simply because we're Native (even though we're often accused of not looking Native enough). I, and so many others, would be honored if we could - someday soon - stop explaining why we are so deeply offended.

 I, too, find the image racist. It is just as racist as a cartoony depiction of an African-American or Asian-American person. Its almost as if they are saying "We own your culture because we conquered your people."