You Think Team Names Are Bad? 12 Images of Propaganda Against Natives
By Christina RoseRacist team names and mascots get their fair share of media play, so why is it still so hard for the mainstream to get it? One look at these historic images makes it clear, the extermination of Native peoples was glorified in toys, books, films, even in the town seal of Whitesboro, New York. The town still uses an image of a Native being bested (they say it’s a wrestling match, but most agree the Native looks as if he is being strangled) by a white dude.
A Wisconsin-based exhibit called “Bittersweet Winds” takes some of the worst historic propaganda and lays it out amidst beautiful items of traditional Native life. Richie Plass, the exhibit’s director, said it helps expose stereotypes for what they are, and allows the viewer to come to that conclusion on their own.And:
According to Coates, when students learn about the way historic propaganda has formed mainstream ideas of Natives, they ask, ‘Did that really happen?’”
“They don’t understand that it was embedding racism and ethnic degradation into white society. It made whites seem like superior beings, and that is exactly what you see in these types of toys,” Coates said. “Students are shocked. After we view his exhibit, it takes us two to three days to get back into our routine. There is so much to discuss.”Comment: Mascots are nothing but live-action versions of these propaganda pieces. The message: Indians are savage and thus don't deserve the same rights as "real Americans."
Note: The first image comes from my Blue Corn Comics website.
Choke, I mean wrestle with, that savage!!
No comments:
Post a Comment