Seeing red

Does this image look like it is honoring Native Americans? How about the word 'raider'? Webster says it is one who raids and to raid is a hostile or predatory incursion. Does that seem like a good way to portray Native Americans? By calling up images of violent raids on white settlers? How about we pick similar images from the past for white people and use them for mascots?

How about "Slave Makers" with a large white man holding a big whip for a mascot?

Or how about "Forcible Relocator" with a white man chasing a Native American with a weapon for a mascot?

What about the "White Force" with an American soldier shoving a Japanese American into a tent in a detention camp?

Or we could just use the guys in the white hoods.

All of these are part of white history but I don't think we want them caricaturerized and used as mascots in high schools. And we wouldn't let them continue if they had been used in the past for the sake of tradition. Some people think this is all just silly. Like this guy in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article:

As far as guidance counselor Mark Kapocius is concerned, the Red Raiders flap is "much ado about nothing." "I don't think it's based on fact," says Kapocius,...

But maybe we should ask someone that is Native American. Also from that article:

But for guidance counselor Cyndi Carter, who identifies herself as an Oneida, the Red Raiders and similar names that supporters say pay homage to the warrior spirit of American Indians only serve to distort their culture.

"Native Americans are a very peaceful people," says Carter. "They didn't become warriors until they had to."

Carter, a 1989 graduate of Tosa East, is skeptical of those who say they are merely paying homage to the bravery and might of American Indians. "It almost seems like it's poking fun, not honoring," Carter says. But she doesn't believe the disrespect is intentional.

A little different perspective there.

There are times when a Native American mascot is ok. And that time is only when the Native American population is ok with it like the Florida State Seminoles. Yes it is true that some Native Americans don't mind the use of Native American images for mascots, but that is when it is done in a respectful way. They are often not as you can see from this part of the article:

David Seitz, 18, a senior and opinions editor for The Cardinal News, says Wauwatosa East should be beyond the stage where the decision is whether to discard the Red Raiders name, and focusing on its replacement - something favored by Burmaster.

"I think it's reasonable that we not represent ourselves in a way that's hurtful to others," Seitz says. In a recent editorial, he cited a poll that said "fewer than 10 percent of American Indians said they felt mascots and symbols generally honored their communities."

If the Native American community believes the Red Raider name is offense to them, that should be the deciding factor, not white alumni that still want to wear the same sweatshirts to the football games for 'tradition'.