No two people are born with the same skin tone. With different hairstyles and clothes, each person has a different skin tone from another. The gradients of the skin are reflected by the environment people live in and how much vitamin D and folate is needed. Interestingly, people have used skin tones to define a group of people and their races. For the purpose of "Show and Tell," the focus will be put on the Native American/Indigenous community in the controversial identifications of "Redskins."
Young siblings happy together. Photo by Chayene Rafaela on Unsplash.
The beloved animated movie Peter Pan was released in 1953 and garnered a lot of attention from children of all ages. The movie touched down strongly on the stereotype of Native Americans with the use of the song "What Made the Red Man Red." In the older cinema, the Native American peoples were often represented as exotic and different from the city, urban-like communities.
The term "redskin" came about when the British lieutenant colonel in 1769 translated the letter received from a Native American chief. This term became well-known for the football team "Boston Redskins," which has now changed to "Washington Football Team." There had been a controversy in the recent years of the term redskin because many activists see this as a racial slur that places a negative representation towards the Native American community. The images place a stereotypical look on chants and headdresses when in reality, the headdresses and songs have strong intentions and meanings behind them.
Football sitting on the field. Photo by Dave Adamson on Unsplash.
While the term redskin has faced negative commentaries from the Native American community, there are also people who view it as non-offensive. Like the word "oriental" representing the Asian community and the "n-word" directed towards the African community, the heated discussion is brought as a linguistic tool to separate these people from the American community.
Redskin has lived through a negative insight of how the Native American community was seen not as people in the eyes of the colonists. In retrospective to its history, it has gone a long way for change to happen when it comes to utilizing Native American images as caricatures for sports teams, brands, and educational systems. With each little step towards understanding, it is best to approach with an open mind and an open heart in correcting the representation and perspective towards the Native American community.
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"Show and Tell” is fiscally sponsored by Independent Arts & Media, a San Francisco nonprofit organization dedicated to building community through media and the arts.
References
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/why-did-darker-and-lighter-human-skin-colors-evolve
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/racist-history-peter-pan-indian-tribe-180953500/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/03/redskins-name-change/
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/washington-redskins-name-controversy-native-americans-racism-white-people-a9058881.html
Nteta, T. M., Sharrow, E. A., & Tarsi, M. R. (2018). Burying the Hatchet? Elite Influence and White Opinion on the Washington Redskins Controversy. Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 99(2), 473–489. https://ezproxy.fhda.edu:2251/10.1111/ssqu.12406