Perpetuating Native American Stereotypes

Native Americans have inhabited America for a very long time. Since the Anglos arrived we have been cheating them out of treaties and displacing them. As our population has grown, the amount of Native Americans has made up a smaller and smaller proportion of the US. The fact that they are now minorities in our country has made it easier for the media and corporate America to represent them through stereotypes.

The Sport in America: The New Racial Stereotypes article mentioned that other races have been portrayed by “ . . .dehumanizing, one-dimensional images . . .”, but these images have either been altered or disappeared over time, on the other hand “ . . .the Indian image persists in corporate marketing and product labeling.” The movie we watched in class about Indian mascots also mentioned that we have stopped representing Blacks through caricatures, but not Native Americans. This makes one wonder, why do we continue to represent Indians in this way? This article also mentioned that American Indians represent such a small amount of the population that the corporations that use Indian images in marketing and product labeling have no incentive to stop using these portrayals. It’s all about making money; the fact that these are human beings are being depicted by horrible stereotypes does not matter. Why do Americans not care that these images are still being used? Perhaps we have become so accustomed to seeing them in advertising and in the media that we don’t even notice they are there. Much like violence in movies we have become desensitized to these images which is why they do not bother us.

As far as the Native American mascot conflict goes, although some Native Americans may not take offense to being portrayed in this manner and although the mascot may stand for honor and bravery, which are all good things, I do not think that it is ok for people to take one’s sacred traditions and customs and use them for entertainment. As mentioned in class I think that if a prominent leader in the white community like a priest was used as a mascot and did a half-time communion show, many people would be very angry and loud about that anger. I think that the fact that there are so few Native Americans with respect to the rest of the population makes it is easier for us to ignore their angry cries. If we (the white majority) were put in their position, we would make sure that our voices were heard and that something was changed. As they say, majority rules.

I think it would take a large group of people in order to change these images. People other than Native Americans would have to get involved in order to create change. One main problem with this was mentioned in the article, What Can We Do?. Johnson mentioned in this article is that the people in the majority group who are not affected by these issues have trouble finding motivation to help change societies problems. If American’s joined together and forced the big companies, sports teams, and other people who perpetuate these images to stop, we may find that we ourselves gain. We may find a new sense of freedom from knowing that we are no longer a part of the problem, which Johnson suggested is a benefit of dominant group involvement.