There have been several articles recently in my local newspaper regarding these topics. My thoughts follow as you might expect)!
(i) Team names are not chosen to offend or weaken. They
are chosen to celebrate desirable characteristics...like confidence,
achievement, strength and the ability to overcome obstacles. They are chosen to
inspire players and fans alike. Names are chosen to portray strength and
courage...hence we have: Lions and Tiger Cats..but not Pussy Cats; Sharks, but
not Minnows.
It behooves the users of the name and the logo to
educate, inform the public of the logo’s history and to tell the stories of the
strength and positive attributes of the peoples and things they reference and/or
depict. Black Hawk was from what I know, a very courageous and proud man Good qualities for anyone on my team.
(ii) Mascots are something entirely different.
They are meant to engage, entertain, attract TV cameras and need not reflect the
name or the logo of the team’s brand in any way. Who is Carlton Bear anyway? Is he a slight to Brown(-ish) bears?
(iii) Re the Equity Summit Group reporting to the TDSB about kids wearing certain team sweaters etc. to school: they cited
Chicago Black Hawks, Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians which are all
longstanding team names. People of many if not all colours, ethnicities and
orientation have played for and cheered for these teams. Many players have been
enshrined in respective Halls of Fame wearing the team logo. People have played
for and cheered for these teams and others like them for years. Many players
have been enshrined in respective Halls of Fame wearing the team logo.
Will the Equity Summit Group also forbid kids from
visiting those Halls? Or reading old game sheets, or books about the teams,
their owners, their players etc.? Will the Equity Police order Google and other
search engines to eliminate all references to these teams? Will they then ban
all “oater” movies or worse still...order a burning of the sweaters and books
and...who knows what else. Will I have to burn my baseball card
collection?
(iv) While we're all at it,
why not ban “Maple Leafs”? What a poor name that
is (they look good in the spring, excite themselves during the summer, then, change colours and
drop every fall).
