Post by Okwes on Nov 13, 2006 11:58:51 GMT -5
Filmmaker screens attack on Tribe's Chief Wahoo
2006-11-02
By Bryant Greening
Athens NEWS Campus Reporter
Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians seemingly have more opponents than the rest of their American League foes. Ohio University's Multicultural Programs hosted a filmmaker Tuesday night who explained the negative effects the baseball team's name and mascot have on society.
Dennis Atkins, a native of Cleveland, screened his documentary, "WaWHO? Nothing is Sacred," to a half-full Baker Center Ballroom audience. The film featured numerous American Indian and human-rights activists aiming to rid the baseball club of what they argued is a racist name and logo.
Atkins, himself of American Indian descent, began the presentation by explaining the objective of the film. "(I wanted) to give a voice to the invincible people," he said. "American Indians felt no one would listen to them."
The filmmaker said that until his wife mentioned it to him a few years ago, he had not been concerned with the issues concerning the Cleveland Indians mascot. "I never really thought about Chief Wahoo," Atkins said. "But it took me about five seconds of looking at it to realize (the protesters) were right."
Atkins said Chief Wahoo, the team's logo, presents the American Indian as subhuman. The image, a red-skinned, cartoon-like figure with an oversized smile and a red feather in his hair, has been despised by the Native-American culture for decades.
"American Indians are angry," Atkins said. "They really feel it's institutional racism, and it's why nobody cares about them."
According to "The Baseball Reliquary" Web site, the Cleveland ballclub, "The Naps," renamed themselves the Indians in 1915, two years after the death of Louis Sockalexis, the first known Native American to play in the Major Leagues. Defenders of the team's name and logo say they honor Sockalexis.
Many anti-Chief Wahoo activists in the documentary also maintained that the Cleveland baseball team's name and mascot perpetuate an accepted racism against American Indians.
Ellen Baird, who was featured in the documentary, said the name and mascot promote an unfair stereotype.
Pointing specifically to Chief Wahoo, she said the logo mocks Native American culture, as the mascot's red eagle feather is typically awarded to a person wounded in war. "A baseball game is not a war," she said. "You don't hear this because of the institutional racism."
Joseph Meisner, who has helped support the American Indian movement in Cleveland as a legal aide, said most people who defend the baseball team's name and logo don't understand what it represents.
Atkins said he agreed with Meisner and added that most people who support Chief Wahoo argue that the name and logo actually honor American Indian culture. "Ignorance is used as an insult, but really it just means you don't know," he said. "A lot of society is just ignorant."
David Adams, who appeared in "WaWHO?," said white American culture cannot comprehend the idea that Native Americans would be degraded by images like the red-skinned caricature.
"Many (fans) will tell you that they are honoring American Indians every time they put on their hat," Adams said. "They simply don't get it."
On an Internet message board, in response to a May 7, 2006 Associated Press article about a Cleveland Girl Scout troop advocating for the elimination of Chief Wahoo, some respondents seemed to confirm Adams' charges. One respondent sarcastically called for the elimination of "The Simpsons"' Homer Simpson, because the character, the person said, pokes fun at white, working-class males.
The documentary also showed baseball fans dancing and yelling outside Jacobs Field, the Cleveland Indians' stadium, seemingly mocking Native Americans. Many American Indian advocates in the film said this would not be accepted if another minority group were the target of such ridicule.
Russell Means, an American Indian activist featured in the documentary, said he and others, including Meisner, sued the Cleveland Indians in 1972. The lawsuit, which called for the renaming of the club and elimination of Chief Wahoo as mascot, was settled out of court.
Means said that as a result of his part in the suit, Cleveland Indians fans sent him hate mail, some calling for the "ethnic cleansing" of American Indians.
The activist said he could not understand how a game could generate so much hate. "I've never attacked his home," Means said. "We (simply) long to be treated as human beings."
Atkins said people are often too passionate about sports. "Sports fans identify so strongly with teams that it's like you're attacking them personally" when advocates ask for names and mascots to be changed, he said.
In the end, Atkins and most of the people in the documentary said money is the ultimate factor in officials not eliminating the Cleveland Indians' name and mascot. One source in the documentary estimated that the club makes over $20 million a year from the Chief Wahoo symbol.
Atkins said the documentary is not intended to attack baseball or the Cleveland Indians' organization, but rather to educate and advocate for change. "(To date), nothing has changed," he said. "It's an issue of corporations. It's an issue of special interests."
Means was the most radical advocate in the film and extremely critical of the Indians baseball club. "You're never going to win a World Series, period. It's your karma," he said. "I've put a curse on you. I announced it with a lawsuit."
2006-11-02
By Bryant Greening
Athens NEWS Campus Reporter
Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians seemingly have more opponents than the rest of their American League foes. Ohio University's Multicultural Programs hosted a filmmaker Tuesday night who explained the negative effects the baseball team's name and mascot have on society.
Dennis Atkins, a native of Cleveland, screened his documentary, "WaWHO? Nothing is Sacred," to a half-full Baker Center Ballroom audience. The film featured numerous American Indian and human-rights activists aiming to rid the baseball club of what they argued is a racist name and logo.
Atkins, himself of American Indian descent, began the presentation by explaining the objective of the film. "(I wanted) to give a voice to the invincible people," he said. "American Indians felt no one would listen to them."
The filmmaker said that until his wife mentioned it to him a few years ago, he had not been concerned with the issues concerning the Cleveland Indians mascot. "I never really thought about Chief Wahoo," Atkins said. "But it took me about five seconds of looking at it to realize (the protesters) were right."
Atkins said Chief Wahoo, the team's logo, presents the American Indian as subhuman. The image, a red-skinned, cartoon-like figure with an oversized smile and a red feather in his hair, has been despised by the Native-American culture for decades.
"American Indians are angry," Atkins said. "They really feel it's institutional racism, and it's why nobody cares about them."
According to "The Baseball Reliquary" Web site, the Cleveland ballclub, "The Naps," renamed themselves the Indians in 1915, two years after the death of Louis Sockalexis, the first known Native American to play in the Major Leagues. Defenders of the team's name and logo say they honor Sockalexis.
Many anti-Chief Wahoo activists in the documentary also maintained that the Cleveland baseball team's name and mascot perpetuate an accepted racism against American Indians.
Ellen Baird, who was featured in the documentary, said the name and mascot promote an unfair stereotype.
Pointing specifically to Chief Wahoo, she said the logo mocks Native American culture, as the mascot's red eagle feather is typically awarded to a person wounded in war. "A baseball game is not a war," she said. "You don't hear this because of the institutional racism."
Joseph Meisner, who has helped support the American Indian movement in Cleveland as a legal aide, said most people who defend the baseball team's name and logo don't understand what it represents.
Atkins said he agreed with Meisner and added that most people who support Chief Wahoo argue that the name and logo actually honor American Indian culture. "Ignorance is used as an insult, but really it just means you don't know," he said. "A lot of society is just ignorant."
David Adams, who appeared in "WaWHO?," said white American culture cannot comprehend the idea that Native Americans would be degraded by images like the red-skinned caricature.
"Many (fans) will tell you that they are honoring American Indians every time they put on their hat," Adams said. "They simply don't get it."
On an Internet message board, in response to a May 7, 2006 Associated Press article about a Cleveland Girl Scout troop advocating for the elimination of Chief Wahoo, some respondents seemed to confirm Adams' charges. One respondent sarcastically called for the elimination of "The Simpsons"' Homer Simpson, because the character, the person said, pokes fun at white, working-class males.
The documentary also showed baseball fans dancing and yelling outside Jacobs Field, the Cleveland Indians' stadium, seemingly mocking Native Americans. Many American Indian advocates in the film said this would not be accepted if another minority group were the target of such ridicule.
Russell Means, an American Indian activist featured in the documentary, said he and others, including Meisner, sued the Cleveland Indians in 1972. The lawsuit, which called for the renaming of the club and elimination of Chief Wahoo as mascot, was settled out of court.
Means said that as a result of his part in the suit, Cleveland Indians fans sent him hate mail, some calling for the "ethnic cleansing" of American Indians.
The activist said he could not understand how a game could generate so much hate. "I've never attacked his home," Means said. "We (simply) long to be treated as human beings."
Atkins said people are often too passionate about sports. "Sports fans identify so strongly with teams that it's like you're attacking them personally" when advocates ask for names and mascots to be changed, he said.
In the end, Atkins and most of the people in the documentary said money is the ultimate factor in officials not eliminating the Cleveland Indians' name and mascot. One source in the documentary estimated that the club makes over $20 million a year from the Chief Wahoo symbol.
Atkins said the documentary is not intended to attack baseball or the Cleveland Indians' organization, but rather to educate and advocate for change. "(To date), nothing has changed," he said. "It's an issue of corporations. It's an issue of special interests."
Means was the most radical advocate in the film and extremely critical of the Indians baseball club. "You're never going to win a World Series, period. It's your karma," he said. "I've put a curse on you. I announced it with a lawsuit."