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Monday, October 6, 2003

"One of the problems that American Indians point to is the callous way in which many Americans treat their concerns. Perhaps no other ethnic group has seen its own cultural emblems and traditions co-opted more, and those exploitations have become mainstays in mainstream culture.

Sports fans wear Indian headdresses, paint their faces and mime a tomahawk chop to celebrate teams such as the National Football League's Washington Redskins or Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves. It happens on college campuses, too.

I doubt many of us raise a brow.

Or that we think much of more offensive gestures, such as when a Dallas radio station enticed its listeners a few years ago to come up with "Indian names" that would describe them if they were caught in their most embarrassing moment. "

Get the Story:
James Ragland: Homage to American Indians or cultural exploitation? (The Dallas Morning News 10/6)

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