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<blockquote data-quote="kristianjohnsen" data-source="post: 41071" data-attributes="member: 441">Re: When Political Correctness BackfiresHello.&nbsp; Outside perspective here:&nbsp; When using a depiction of a human from a minority as a mascot you automatically exaggerate a few traits about that minority to make the mascot represent the things you are trying to say about your team.&nbsp; Like you said, the Sioux were fighters, so a team might want to identify themselves with that one trait.&nbsp; But any person or people is more complex than a cardboard figure, so you&#039;re doing them a disservice by making them mascots.&nbsp; Mascots are one step away from pets.I can&#039;t possibly imagine having an Australian Aboriginee as a mascot for a team there, Aussies, correct me if I&#039;m way off.PS:&nbsp; I know Vikings are used as mascots also and I think people would object to that also if there actually was still a Viking culture around.&nbsp; That culture is extinct so us decedants sometime like to identify ourself with some of their traits and I guess that&#039;s &quot;great&quot;, even if the better traits they had are largely unknown.&nbsp; Here, some people go to ball games wearing dinky plastic Viking helmets, but I object since the Vikings weren&#039;t very nice people when it comes down to it, so to me it&#039;s like Germans wearing swastikas to a ball game 1000 years from now.&nbsp; I hope something like that never happens.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kristianjohnsen, post: 41071, member: 441"] Re: When Political Correctness Backfires Hello. Outside perspective here: When using a depiction of a human from a minority as a mascot you automatically exaggerate a few traits about that minority to make the mascot represent the things you are trying to say about your team. Like you said, the Sioux were fighters, so a team might want to identify themselves with that one trait. But any person or people is more complex than a cardboard figure, so you're doing them a disservice by making them mascots. Mascots are one step away from pets. I can't possibly imagine having an Australian Aboriginee as a mascot for a team there, Aussies, correct me if I'm way off. PS: I know Vikings are used as mascots also and I think people would object to that also if there actually was still a Viking culture around. That culture is extinct so us decedants sometime like to identify ourself with some of their traits and I guess that's "great", even if the better traits they had are largely unknown. Here, some people go to ball games wearing dinky plastic Viking helmets, but I object since the Vikings weren't very nice people when it comes down to it, so to me it's like Germans wearing swastikas to a ball game 1000 years from now. I hope something like that never happens. [/QUOTE]

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