One under-discussed but related issue in the MAGA Hat Teen story is the tomahawk chop and its use at sports events. And beyond that there’s the problem of Native American mascots.
For those living under a rock or without a TV in a super-liberal community, the tomahawk chop is a common site at sports events involving teams with Native American themed mascots. In the perspective of many (myself included), all Native American mascots are racially offensive and should be changed, unless I suppose if an implausibly large majority of Native Americans want one preserved. There is a greyscale on the issue of which groups should and shouldn't be reasonably used as a mascot but when you’re dealing with a group that still suffer so terribly from race-based oppression, it’s very clear that such people shouldn’t be made into cartoons for the sake of sports team profit and fun. The Fighting Irish are an example of a mascot that I think is less problematic, given that the Irish no longer suffer stifling oppression in the US at this point. But frankly I’m open to changing any mascots that are offensive to anyone, no matter how small that community of people.
But I think the MAGA Hat Teen story has revealed something here. Now we have a clear and widely seen example of the uglier and often disputed aspect of the use of Native Americans as mascots. In the gleeful use and defense of these sports themed activities as racial taunting (and that’s what the teens were doing), the racist underbelly of the embrace of Native American mascots is revealed. This was a sports team activity repurposed as a racist weapon to mock, humiliate, offend, and ultimately hurt an elderly Native American. It was in no reality based universe a happy and gleeful joining in on his drumming ceremony. Those that would claim that it was are either in denial or are lying.
For every fan of the Washington Redskins who disputes that their mascot is racist and claims that it’s harmless, we now have an example of what these mascots and associated sports activities have done to our kids. Now they’ve been weaponized by MAGA enthusiasts as racist symbols, like a “heil” salute or other such obscenities. I don’t doubt that Trump’s taunting of Elizabeth Warren’s heritage has loosened his supporters’ inhibitions on the racial taunting of Native Americans, so this will be a bigger and bigger problem going forward.
Imagine a Jewish caricature mascot with a crowd of kids doing the Nazi salute and you get the picture. We’re talking about Native American genocide, don’t forget. That’s always part of this when we’re talking about Native Americans.
One thing the MAGA Hat Teen story should teach all of us is that the use of Native American mascots is corroding our society and our racial intelligence, sensitivity, and understanding. Frankly, it’s been doing that for a long long time but now we have a very clear example of what these kinds of things do to our kids. They can contribute to turning them into very ugly people.
No sports team should be using a racist mascot. No sports fan should tolerate it. And as a society it’s time we acknowledge that these things are not harmless and they are in fact damaging children and teaching them that racism and racial taunting are OK.
That’s not acceptable. It’s time for universities and sports teams with integrity to put Native American mascots in the past, just like some of them have done with racially offensive statues, murals, and paintings on their campuses. And it’s time for sports fans with integrity to stop supporting teams with racist mascots, most importantly with their pocketbooks and public statements.