Swanson ACE Debate

Chris says that Native American teams are honoring those Native Americans, but I disagree because there are many teams that, although the names aren't the problem, have degrading mascots. Teams like the "Arabs" from a school in California, use a terribly degrading costume. It completely insults Arabian people. Although this is not a Native American example, there are Native American teams that do this. Therefore, most teams named after groups like this, are actually not honoring those groups, the are insulting them.

I say that mascots should be changed to be more politically correct also because teams that use offensive names like this get a lot of hate. A school in California uses the name "Arabs" and their mascot is a snarling Arabian man, which causes much hate from other schools around the world, and other local schools. With the school getting hate, it could cause students to become unhappy, possibly bullied. This could result in the students doing very serious, permanent things.

I say that we should change mascots also because using Native American sports references is a sign of disrespect. Every single one of the hundreds of Native American tribes across the nation have different cultures and traditions. Yet, tons of the teams referencing different tribes wear the same headdresses and war paints that not all tribes wear. Also, opposing mascots discuss often how they think the teams show off Indian Culture in a cartoon-ish way. It makes all tribes seem the same and not at all different.

I believe that mascots should be changed to be more politically correct. Many teams use mascots based on Native Americans that are in many ways offensive. Many people take great offense in a mascot based after a group, such as Native Americans. A national campaign called "change the mascot" was created to end the use of racial slurs such as mascot names because of people offended by this racial epithet. Having a Native American as your mascot not only is extremely stereotypical, it can also be extremely degrading. A team called the "Arabs" in California uses a mascot at it's game, that is a snarling, bushy Arabian man. If you believe that that is okay, you need to see this mascot for yourself. This mascot has offended so many people, it's crazy. Also, if team names and mascots were changed, the teams would be strengthened, and there would be more fans. If you were Native American and you saw the same dark skinned mascot with a feathered headdress at every game, would you be offended? You probably would be. Another thing is that teams with mascots and names like that get a lot of hate, which brings down the confidence of the team and people of that school or state, causing the team to do worse and the people to be unhappier. All of these politically incorrect mascots and names create so much unhappiness that we could avoid, it just isn't worth it.