Cultural Appropriation, part N

[ravan]

Which of these sports team names is *not* cultural appropriation?

A. Minnesota Vikings
B. Cleveland Indians
C. Washington Redskins
D. Boston Celtics
E. Golden State Warriors

If you guessed A, D and E, you are biased toward Native Americans. The best answer is E, since multiple cultures and tribes from Europe, America and Asia have warriors, although using "warriors" along with native american caricatures is still offensive.

My point? Just because the culture in question is a so called "white" culture doesn't mean that it's symbols can be misappropriated for trivial purposes that they weren't intended. European culture is not monolithic, and many of us are trying to reclaim the pre-christian cultures from the bland hodgepodge that passes for "western" culture.

By the way, if there's so much equal opportunity borging going on in the sports world, why aren't teams names Samurai, Sikh, and other things?

Comments

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Years ago, I watched a Mad TV skit where a coalition of Native Americans bought up several pro sports teams and renamed them, so the Washington Redskins became the Washington Rednecks, complete with a buck-toothed, straw-hat wearing bumpkin mascot.

One of the other teams was the Atlanta Braves who got renamed to the "Atlanta Genocidal White Maniacs who Killed our People and Stole our Land".

[ravan.livejournal.com]

Gee, wouldn't that be the San Diego Padres?