Compare And Contrast Essay

Rubab Tahir
English
Mrs.Thornton
10/26/2013
Concealed Discrimination " We have met the enemy of equality and the enemy is us." Quoted by Annie Murphy Paul. Many of us are guilty of having a misconception about Native Americans. Most of this is not entirely our fault it's what we have heard and seen through out our lives. Some of the biggest issues with stereotyping is having the sport teams named after the American Indians, "Pocahontas" a film made by Disney which is not entirely true, and the way Native Americans are portrayed in Hollywood movies. Many popular sport teams around the United Stastes use Native American names, mascots, and symbols. Native Americans are greatly exasperated by this. Ward Churchill argues, "innocent practices perpetuate the crimes commited against Native Americans"(281). Many Native Americans have protested against the names of the sports team. Athlet's believe that they are honering the Americans Indians by naming teams after them. The owner of the sports teams need to ask themselves, is it really honer? When the Native Americans all over the United States are getting offended. One of the biggest examples for discrimination is the Clevland Indians. The mascot for the Clevland Indians is Cheif Wahoo, who has been getting more cartoon looking over the years. Ward Churchill concludes that just because there are less Native Americans, people can get away with discrimination. Cheif Wahoo was added to the basball caps in 1986, which helped the sales increase. An employee at the J.F Novak company was asked to draw cheif Wahoo. Walter Goldbach was qoted saying he had a hard time "figuring out how to make the Indian look like a cartoon"(wikapedia). This proves that they are using the Indian culture to make fun symbols for their teams. It seems the illustrture didnt have any knowledge on Indian culture. A chiefe in the American Indian culture is suposed to have a full head dress of feathers and a brave only has one feather. Another way of dicrimination aginst Native Americans that is going not only in sports, but in the Disney animated movie. The most famouse Indian princess Phocahontas who we met while watching a Disney animated movie. Many parts of the story line in the animated movie are false and discrimatory of the American Indians. The music was the the most racists of all calling the Indians "balery even humans". According to the movie Phocahontas fell in love with John Smith, a captin, whom she saved from her father Cheif Powhatan. The real story is that she did not fall in love with John Smith. Phocahontas was kidnaped by captin Samual Argall in 1613. Phocahontas was held hostage for the English prisoners. While being kept hostage at James Town she met John Rolf, a settler she fell in love with. He gained autherization from Cheif Powhaton and Thomas Dale to marry her. This is what brought peace between the Native Americans and the James Town settlers. Many parts through out the movie the indians were reffered to as "savages" and taalked about negativly. The movie showed lots of dircrminaton towrd

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