Sports mascots have always been an area for the racially conscious, and after being inspired by some hats (what, you thought I could have a post without talking about clothing?) I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon a bit and at least touch on it (albeit yearssssss late).
So you're probably familiar with certain controversies surrounding the use of stereotypes of Native Americans as sports mascots? I mean come on, we all grew up with them:
Chief Wahoo here (of the Cleveland Indians) was one of the few Native faces (ironically) I saw when I was a kid...other than those...well you know, on the tv being shot down by cowboys and raping white women.
Same can be said for local (I'm only saying that b/c I'm in D.C. right now) football team, the Washington Redskins....redskins...really?
Is this starting to make you feel a little uncomfortable? The issue isn't anything new and it's been around the block a couple of times, with some teams changing their names and others even refusing to schedule games with teams sportin' the racist mascots.
Still, a number of official sports teams rock the logos and mascots, and 3 years ago, a group of Colorado University students decided to name their intermural basketball team the "Fightin' Whities" in an attempt to make a statement against another local school whose mascot was (is?) the "Fightin' Reds". They even managed to get themselves mentioned on CNN:
There's a thin line for everything though,
What exactly qualifies as "offensive"? Clearly, titles such as the Red Skins and Indians as mascots are clearly offensive. The first is a racial slur, and the second is just ludicrous, using a racial category as a mascot is miserable? Why is that ok, when there are no Detroit Blacks or San Francisco Orientals? (Oh wait, scratch that last one, looks like Akron Ohio's already got that one down).
But what about civilizations? The Spartans...the Aztecs...the dreaded Celtics? Boston's basketball team sports a loving leprechaun like figure, embattled with clovers like a bad case of chicken pox.
Or what about categories such as "warriors", "chiefs", and other such ambiguous terms that could possibly be alright, but often sport racist caricatures as their logos?
I think, as a general rule, race, ethnicity, or religion should not be incorporated as mascots in our current day and age. Maybe 50-100 years ago, they were ok, but we're not so ignorant anymore, and as the demographics of America change, it's time that we change our institutions, no matter how beloved, as well. Of course, there will always be that one special case, such as in the situation of the Florida State Seminoles, who actually have a working relationship with the Seminole tribe and have permission from the tribe to use...well...the tribe as their mascot and logo.
The thought just came up in my head because I was on Hella Tight checking out some of the gear, when I got curious about some of the hats that I had seen, but hadn't thought too hard about until now.
You'll notice a strong similarity to some of the pictures above:
The Hella Tight Whities The Hella Tight Red Necks
It's actually all very comic...but to me, that's what's most troubling about it.
So I got off of work early today and went shopping :x. Bad idea. I knew I'd spend money. :[ $47.00 (tax included). Sickkkkk, has a Minneapolis Lakers logo on the tongue. I totally couldn't resist.
The proposed match up. (somebody help me if I got this messed up, being color blind suckss) I put them on once, and promptly put them back into the box and put'em in the closet...I haven't even taken the tags off yet. :P (Don't worry I will do that eventually...unlike some people I've seen around...Hats I can kind of see...shoes no way.) I'm so afraid to get them dirty though. D:
I'm usually wary of shirts with random Asian script on 'em, but this one's pretty cool. The character reads Zu in Chinese, Jok in Korean, and Zoku in Japanese and roughly translates as "tribe".
So I got an internship in DC this summer...I'll spare you the details, and inundate this post instead with hats and other fashion related things.
Two beautiful hats rockin' the flannel. I'm really tempted, especially with the second because it'll actually probably come in handy at the 'Hearst, but I'm really hesitant to rock hats with teams/locations that I don't like or am from...and Oakland isn't exactly high up on my list of places where I want to live (as wonderful as it may be).
I really like the faded logo on this one...simple yet, it has some sort of weird 1994 retro feel to it that I'm totally digging. Too bad, it's SF though...(The Giants are the arch rivals of the Dodgers).
Perhaps it's time to do away with all that crap and just indulge in these hats....fashion is fashion I suppose.
Speaking of reppin' where you're from, I'm thinking about picking up one of these (albeit a bit ugly) Cal State University Fullerton hats...to well...you know...rep the conservative bastion that is Fullerton. hahaha Actually these shoes would probably go really well with the second design: I thought these were really fresh too. I first saw'em at Holyoke Mall this past spring break, and really wanted to pick up an Elmo or one of the TMNTs, but found myself to be disgustingly broke. :[
Also, Flight of the Conchords love right now...as in well....
Musical comedy will always be fine by me!
Some other miscellaneous sweaters/hoodies:
Also in the fresh sneaker department, totally check out Creative Recreation. Here are some designs that I'm diggin' at the moment.
Been watching the NBA playoffs lately...Lakers are not doing as well as I'd like them to be, but it's happening. the series is tied at 2-2 and the games are moving back to LA so I think the boys will be playing well again. I'm fairly confident we'll beat the Nuggets. The big story right now though is Caveliers and Magic. Everyone thought LeBron would just dominate, but Magic is showing itself to be quite the team back East. It's got a 3-1 stranglehold on Clevlend right now and things are looking grim for the Cavliers.
I'm thinking LA and Miami this year, but we'll have to see.
Insight's the Perverts Flannel (Orange Check). Original price: ($40-50 [I don't quite remember it was a bit ago]) Paid: About $17
This one was particularly good because my old LA hat (the first fitted I ever bought) is so shrunk, dirty, and worn out I barely ever wear it anymore.
Or what about categories such as "warriors", "chiefs", and other such ambiguous terms that could possibly be alright, but often sport racist caricatures as their logos?
Two beautiful hats rockin' the flannel. I'm really tempted, especially with the second because it'll actually probably come in handy at the 'Hearst, but I'm really hesitant to rock hats with teams/locations that I don't like or am from...and Oakland isn't exactly high up on my list of places where I want to live (as wonderful as it may be).
I really like the faded logo on this one...simple yet, it has some sort of weird 1994 retro feel to it that I'm totally digging. Too bad, it's SF though...(The Giants are the arch rivals of the Dodgers).
Musical comedy will always be fine by me!
