Mascots free essay sample

What is a controversial mascot? Controversial is defined by the online Merriam- Webster Dictionary as relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument (Controversial). What is meant when one says controversial mascots, is a mascot that resembles a person, place or thing that is not agreed upon or supported by all people. A major controversial group of mascots that have been talked about for over four decades now are mascots that are Native American based. There are multiple ethical issues that have been brought up over using these ascots. Using Native American objects or even the Native American people as a mascot is a racial issue, and the stereotypical images of the Native Americans affect a childs self esteem. Using these mascots is also disrespectful of the Native American Indians and their ancestors. I believe that schools should be banned from having mascots that degrade any sort of culture or group of people. We will write a custom essay sample on Mascots or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Since the 1970s, this has been seen as offensive to the Native American tribes across the United States. When high schools and colleges in the United States started sing mascots, the Native American culture was very apparent. As a result of this we have a pretty predominant amount of schools that were given Native American associated mascots. Examples of schools 2 that have Native American based mascots are the Florida State Seminoles, Central Michigan Chippewas, North Dakota Fighting Sioux, and the University of Illinois Fighting Illi. The schools that have mascots that are Native American based use Native American faces, weapons, art or even a Native American Indian as their mascot. Mascots that resemble Native Americans can be seen as racist. They degrade the Native American culture by not representing the true Native American tribes. People from other cultures and beliefs have come to believe that these mascots are representative as to who the Native American tribes are and want to be seen as, which is never true. These racist mascots are caricatures of Native Americans and are meant for entertainment for the crowd. They do not depict the actual Native American culture and are presenting a false persona of the Native Americans. Most colleges that have a Native American mascot have a negative image along with the ame of a tribe such as The Fight Sioux or The Fighting Illinois. Names like these give off the image of vicious, aggressive tribes; which is not what the current tribes are. These mascots depict what the original settlers thought about the Native Americans when they first came to America, that the Native Americans were savages. These people were thought to be uncivilized and primitive. Yet today we still have mascots that are depicting these Native American tribes as savages. The mascots have red faces and are wearing war paint, and have the headdresses on. This depiction has tayed with many of the American people who have never been taught about Native American culture. It we eliminate these images ot savages running across the gym screaming with war paint on their face, then the racist issue would not be such a problem. Most white European people do not experience racist comments made towards them like the Native 3 American Indians do. I do think that if we had mascots of screaming white people in old uniform many people would be offended. If someone was to put on a WWII uniform and scream out chants and names during a game people would be offended verywhere. We need to think about what it would be like to be in their position. Most people do not take the time to step back and consider how these Native Americans are feeling, and walk a mile in their shoes. While researching this topic I came across a great scenario to maybe help people at Viterbo University understand a little more of how Native Americans feel when we use their culture and history as mascots during sports games. The crowd roars as the mascot enters the gym. The student section of the East High School Catholics erupts with the anticipated entrance of Father Guido. He is dressed in flowing robes, with golf-ball-sized rosary beads flopping around his neck, and an oversized miter atop his head with the words CATHOLICS RULE written on this tall cloth hat. He begins his much anticipated halftime routine by tossing faux-Eucharistic hosts into the crowd, much to the delight of the fans who gobble them up or toss them back and forth to each other. Throughout the routine, his genuflections are accompanied by his pantomimed crucifix consecrations of the crowd. After his flamboyant flipping of holy water into the crowd, Father Guido goes for the money shot†he grabs the incense urn and ompletes his frenzied blessing of the crowd before suddenly becoming stoic, dropping to a knee in prayer, then rising to scream in unison with the crowd, Pope Benedict, lead us to victory! The fans feel honored to receive Father Guidos blessing, in hopes that it will inspire the crowd to cheer diligently for the Catholics second- half surge to victory. Now, given that East High School is predominantly Muslim (and Father Guido 4 is incidentally a student of color who paints his face white to play the role), I wonder how the small handful of Catholic students at East High feel about this portrayal of heir people, of their faith (Steinfeldt 17). For those who are Catholic, I think it is very clear why the Native American people feel that they were disrespected toward their ancestors and beliefs. The rosary, Eucharist, crucifix, incense and prayer are all very holy religious relics and acts to the Catholic Church. When one grows up Catholic they are taught to respect these different religious items. If the time was taken to degrade and disrespect each persons religion that believes it is okay to use the Native American mascots, then I believe they would quickly learn why the Native Americans feel so offended and do not want the mascots to be used. Many Americans still think that Native American Indians were savages and that the Native Americans were people who spent their time killing everyone and were very uneducated. However, when the settlers came to America they decided to claim the land as their own and moved the Native Americans out; taking the land that the Native Americans knew as their home. Native Americans were moved across the United States in chains. It is because of this that Native American culture has been erased. This is the reason that the mascots of schools that are Native American ased talsely depict the true Native American culture, because the culture was erased and is not taught in our grade schools when the students learn about American History. When the Native Americans are falsely depicted it can prevent school-aged children from understanding the true culture of Native Americans both past and present. These children are going to grow up and become unknowingly discriminate against Native Americans. When 5 the children see these mascots falsely representing a nation they are not going to understand the true Native American culture and heritage. The scenario with the Catholic Priest at the basketball game can also help with understanding why it is so important for school-aged children to understand the true Native American culture. If children grow up only knowing what is taught to them about Native American culture at basketball games or what is seen on television then they would never understand how much of this stuff is not part of the true Native American culture. Just like what is seen on comedic television and is said in the news about the Catholic Church, one cannot always believe what they are seeing or earing. Growing up Native American in a culture where it is socially acceptable to make fun of ones heritage would be very hard on a child. The child would begin to feel self-conscious and may even try to hide who they are. It is important for all children to be proud of who they are and where they are from. Someone who supports the Native American mascots and have never learned about the Native American culture might say that it is an opportunity for the Native American children to learn about their heritage. They may also say that it is a chance for the children to e proud of who they are and where they are from. When a study was done in Arizona on high school aged Native Americans, 71 students, the major outcome was negative on self-esteem. In the study the Native American children were shown pictures and read texts of Chief Wahoo, Pocahontas, stereotypically negative outcomes of Native Americans and a control. They explained the stereotypically negative out comes as a list of stereotypes that are on television, movies and books or newspapers about the Native American population. The list given to the students was, Most people know very little about American 6 Indians beyond the negative images portrayed in newspapers and on television. High dropout rates, alcoholism, suicide, depression, and teen pregnancies are examples of how American Indians are portrayed around the country. We hope to portray American Indians as they really are today (Fryberg 211). The results were put on a scale of one to five. One being the least like me and five being the most like me. All three pictures and descriptions came back with a total mean of having a negative effect on the students. For the first picture and description, Chief Wahoo, the mean core of affecting the students self-esteem was 3. 88. The second picture and description, Pocahontas, had a mean score of 3. 79. The last picture and description to affect the self-esteem of the students, stereotypically negative outcomes, had a mean score of 3. 5. All three were significantly higher than the control. They never revealed what they used as the control for the experiment. From this experiment I think that it is very clear that these images impact children and their self-esteem There are many ditterent changes that need to be made in society to help this cause. First we need to recognize the imbedded racism in our English language. Just like gay and fag are being commonly used, so are racist names, songs and other Native American slander in our day-to-day language. The first place this needs to change is at home with parents. Children learn a lot from their first few years at home with their parents. There is also more that should be done in the schools. I believe that teachers are not doing enough to help students understand the Native American heritage. We learn quite a bit about our European heritage, but are very seldom taught about who was ere in America before the Europeans. We are not taught about how the Europeans stole land from the people who owned it 7 for thousands of years before the Europeans even knew it existed. I believe this is because educators do not want students to learn about the horrible past of the Europeans. If educators increased time in the classroom to inform students of the Native American culture and their past history in the United States, then students would not be so inclined to shout out hurtful words to Native American children. I had a teacher in high school that was Native American. When we were first learning about Christopher Columbus, we were also learning about the Native American culture. We made Native American food and learned a few sentences in our local Native American language. When we got to the part in American history where the settlers moved the Indians off their land and out west, my teacher made sure we understood the torture they went through. She shackled our legs and handles together and had us walk about two miles. After two miles of this torture we all had blisters around our ankles from not being about to step more than a few inches at a time. Everyone in my class thought this was a great learning experience. If more teachers were to incorporate these types of learning experiences then I do believe people would hesitate more on who they want to be the mascots. The people who are associated with supporting Native American mascots are predominantly males. They often do not see the problems with having these mascots. A study done at the University of Florida was conducted among 167 undergraduate participants. They were asked a series of questions over the course of an hour. The questions asked were to answer three major questions being asked by a psychology class. The three major questions that the psychology class wanted answered by the study were: Are some Native American sport mascots considered to be relatively more unacceptable compared with others based on the extent of stereotyping; Is there any attitudinal difference toward Native American sport mascots between 8 White and minority participants; Are there gender differences in approval for Native American sport mascots(Bresnahan 168). For the first question the participants were shown a series of four known Native American Mascots, with each mascot seeming to be more stereotypical than the last. As the class hypothesized, the mascot that was least stereotypical (dark skin, war paint, head dress etc. ) was the favorite among the participants. For the second question Is there any attitudinal difference toward Native American sport mascots between White and minority participants were somewhat surprising to me (Bresnahan 173). The difference of approval of these mascots between majority and minority groups where very small. On a range ot to 5. 00, the mean score of approval for whites was 3. 8, and the approval for minorities was 3. 6. The difference was only . 2 between the two groups. Both were above the half way mark. For the third question, Are there gender differences in approval for Native American sport mascots? there was a little bit more of a difference, men had a mean score of 4. 07 and women had a mean score of 3. 79 (Bresnahan 173). This was still not a significant difference. From this testing done at the university they came to the conclusion that only about 16 percent of the students who participated thought any of the mascots were offensive to the Native Americans, the rest all approved. Of these findings, they proved that men are more likely to pprove of the use of Native American mascots. If we started teaching the true Native American culture when children are in school, these numbers of acceptance toward the Native American mascot would change. More people would not be okay with letting a mascot who does not depict the true Native American culture represent their school. If we started this now, within a few decades we would see such a huge change of attitudes among people that went to these high schools and colleges that use the mascots. One 9 thing that is helping this change along now is the changes that are being made by he National Collegiate Athletic Association. The NCAA has been on a movement to change the images of Native Americans in collegiate sports. A federal law that was passed in 2004 stated, the organization declared that these schools could no longer use their mascots in postseason athletic contests. In its policy promulgation, the NCAA declared that schools with offensive mascots and imagery could not display their logos on the court or field or on a uniform, nor could they allow students to don the mascot costumes on the sidelines during any postseason play (Harper 137-138). The schools that were to follow this ew law were Florida State Seminoles, the Central Michigan Chippewas, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. This law is only the first step toward changing the mascots. These schools are still allowed to use these offensive mascots during the school season. This law does not stop them from having a mascot on the side during the game and does not prevent the school from using offensive Native American symbols on the uniforms or fields. We are still in the movement for change. The people who believe that there should not be any changes made to the ascots say we should keep these mascots for multiple reasons. First they believe that using these mascots show that they are supporting the Native American tribes. They believe by using these mascots we are saying to the Native American people we are proud to be Sioux, Chippewa etc. . Second the people who want to keep the mascots say that schools would lose followers and money because of the name and mascot change. People would lose interest because it is not the name they graduated with. It maybe even the school that someones parents went to, but because of the 10 name change they no longer have a sentimental reason to go there. Thirdly people also believe that they are honoring the Native American tribes and their ancestors. What needs to happen for people to realize that using these mascots is not honoring or tlattering the Native American people is education. People need to learn about the Native American tribes and their traditions to really understand that these mascots are only mocking the tribes. No one can truly be proud to be a Sioux or Chippewa if they are not truly honoring the actual tribe and their beliefs or culture. Education is going to be key in order for the racial Native American mascots to be liminated. Native Americans have been dealing with racial issues, stereotypical images and disrespect toward the culture for hundreds of years. For the past forty years they have trying to deal with middle schools, high schools, colleges and professional sport teams using Native American symbols, art, relics or even the Native American people as their mascots. They have moved in the right direction with the new law passed in 2004 that does not allow a few schools to use the mascots during the post season. More is going to need to be done in order to honor these tribes and regain the espect that they all deserve. After all, how would one feel if their religion, family, friends and community were disrespected and wrongfully used only to represent a school or sports team?

What is Your Career Aspiration Sample?

What is Your Career Aspiration Sample?Do you know what is your career aspiration sample essay? You may already have some of the required information about career aspirants, and you may have also read your own resume in a resume writing software. In this article, I will guide you to understand more about what a career aspiration sample is, and how can you use it as a learning tool for your resume writing.A career aspiration sample is an actual sample of a resume that contains a list of career goals for a particular person who is applying for a job. Career aspirants put their names in this sample as a test for applying for a job in their field of interest. This method can be very effective if you are ready to look at the real truth behind your own aspirations.If you will visit sites that sell people's resumes, they usually give you a bunch of details about the expected personality profile of a job applicant. But in these resume writing samples, you may only get a tiny part of the real personality of the person.Most of the time, you will only see a formal speech, credibility and confident writing on the resume sample. And what do you expect? What is your attitude towards the job you want?Let me make you aware of a great resource to have a career aspiration sample. Online you will find several online communities, which help you to share your career aspirations. These online communities make it possible for people from different countries to get connected and share their stories and answer questions about the careers they are interested in.Your own career aspiration can make a huge difference in your future. And once you are familiar with other people's career aspirations, you can start your own career aspirations too. A personal portfolio helps you determine ifyour personality match the personality profile of the job you are aiming to get.Your career aspiration sample can be anything that you want. It can be your top aspirations or it can be a single sentence that you wrote for yourself to know more about your career aspiration. Whatever you choose, make sure that you don't overwhelm yourself with too much information about the job that you want.Your career aspiration sample can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Only by building your career aspiration slowly and systematically, can you become a true career aspirant. That is why I always recommend reading your personal portfolio (before applying for a job) and then applying for the first position you find interesting.