I have just now discovered your site and am impressed with the collection of historical references. You seem to be on the side of the angels but I take exception to the inclusion of team mascots with the catalog of inhumanity. This is a public relations controversy designed to grab headlines and does not advance the cause of Native Americans in either their past or present difficulties. Mascots are not chosen to demean their teams. They are chosen as a rallying point. I have been to schools where the mascots were Cavaliers, and Paladins and Troopers. Europeans. No-one objects. It's true that the celebrations surrounding the games are silly, but that is in the spirit of fun. Native Americans (or American Indians) themselves promote the warrior spirit. Young men from the various tribes have proudly served in the US military in every war since the Revolution. Adopting their image to represent a sporting team was done to commemorate that spirit. The counter examples that are presented in your site are derogatory terms (of course "Redskins" probably falls into that category too). "Braves" and "Indians" are not derogatory. If you renamed the teams to be the Washington Rednecks, the Atlanta Crackers, and the Cleveland Hillbillies, you would see white fans putting on overalls, sporting corncob pipes and blacking out teeth to cheer on their teams. And, who would object? Minority groups would because they would feel unrepresented. Minority ethnic groups (in this country and most others) have plenty of substantive grievances. The issue of team mascots does not have the stature to be with the rest of your list, and it demeans the suffering of the victims of the other events.
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