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AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE LEADER CALLS INDIAN MASCOTS "DEHUMANIZING"
Speaking at the first annual conference on the Elimination of Racist Mascots, held April 3 in Campaign, Ill., Kenneth S. Stern, the American Jewish Committee's expert on anti-Semitism and extremism, challenged "all civil rights, ethnic, and religious organizations to adopt policy, as the American Jewish Committee has done, labeling the use of Indian sports logos and mascots `racist and sacrilegious,' and to act on such policies."
"People of goodwill wood never tolerate stereotypes they seem willing to accept about Indian people," Stern noted. "Imagine a team named the Washington Blackskins with a Sambo logo, a team named Kansas City Rabbis with caricatures of Jews reminiscent of Nazi publications, a team named the San Diego Wetbacks with a Frito Bandit mascot. Impossible."
Stern also noted that these names and marketing materials trivializes Indian religion. "Eagle feathers are sacred to Indian people, much as the Torah is to Jews or the crucifix is to Christians," he said. "Can you imagine foam crucifixes...