Perspectives: Sam’s Perspective – Wahoo

Does it strike you as odd how on the one hand, some sport teams insist racism is wrong while at the same time they insist on promoting it? We all know at the professional level, it’s all about money and oddly enough those same teams insist its about sportsmanship, athleticism, diversity and the game itself.
Back in 1947, the Cleveland Indians started using the Chief Wahoo logo to promote their team. Considering how Indians have been treated in this country, it’s no surprise those same teams decided go with a race of people, when casting about for a name. The NFL’s Washington Redskins pulled the same trick.
Did ya know that Native Americans never broke a treaty with the United States? What did they get for their trouble? Well the folks that discovered this country brought with them smallpox, which they were only too happy to pass along to the Native Americans. That little trick killed off hundreds of people whose only crime was meeting the boat loads of non-Indians. Next came massive land grabs, driving off the people who considered this to be their land. Well sir, when they decided fight back, they were labeled savages or worse. The fighting claimed lives on both sides and regardless of who won the battles, the Indians always lost. The great white fathers in Washington decided the way to go was with treaties, and with each one the government got the land and the Indians got the shaft, because it was the white culture that decided to break the treaties in the first place. Yep, we should be proud of how the Native Americans have been treated over the years.
Well, Cleveland decided to remove the Chief Wahoo logo,…. but not this year. No they won’t pull the plug until 2019. The reason? Money of course. Also they’re going to hold on to the team name, the Cleveland Indians. The Washington Redskins have no plan to undergo a name change so it appears all the good sounding talk promoting a culture of diversity and inclusion throughout the game is just talk. My Indian friends smile and say, “Some things never change,…they are still talking out of both sides of their mouths,… with a forked tongue.”
And that’s my Perspective.