By Brynn Smith

The oppression of Native Americans started when the first white man stepped foot on the New World and has continued into 2018. The ongoing persecution of native people continues with the controversial logos and names of well-respected sports teams, like the Cleveland Indians, and the one closest to home, the Washington Redskins.

The context in which the symbols are used should be carefully thought through, and, if outdated, or offensive, changed. Recently, the Cleveland Indians announced they will remove their contentious logo of a red-faced caricature of a Native American. It’s not the fact that the mascot is a Native American, that is offensive, but that he is a buffoon-like caricature whose name is “Chief Wahoo.” The MLB commissioner stated it was “no longer appropriate for on-field use”. The offensive depiction of an entire race of people have never, and will never, be appropriate for on-field use, yet the MLB took over 100 years to get rid of it. With the Cleveland Indians taking one step closer to ending the era of racist mascots, the Redskins need to be close behind. The term “Redskins” is blatantly offensive. The concept of naming a team by defining an entire group of people by the supposed color of their skin cannot be allowed to continue.