Silos of Self-Interest
In 1996, I covered the Native American protest of Chief Wahoo on Opening Day at Jacobs Field. Initiated two years prior by the American Indian Movement (AIM), I was — and still am — completely mystified as to why the owners of the baseball franchise just don’t simply bite the bullet, take the short-term lost revenues from sales of trinkets, and do the right thing by sending the racist caricature packing.
The next year I came up with the “Sambo” sign and tried to get someone Black to carry it during that year’s demonstration on Opening Day. When I failed in that attempt, I took off my journalist’s hat and put on my activist’s one — and carried the sign myself. Just as I’m mystified as to why the club’s owners don’t do the right thing, I’m even more mystified as to why Blacks (and others) don’t stand up with their Native American brothers on this issue.
Indeed, the fact Native Americans picket Progressive Field virtually by themselves on Opening Day 2011 is a blight — it should stain the conscience of the progressive movement in America. If there were a true progressive movement in this country, instead of having simply a bunch of “silos of self-interest” the middleclass would be united and not be in jeopardy of being decimated, wiped from the American landscape as it is under the current relentless assault from the far right.
The corporate mindset that refuses to treat Native Americans and their ancestry with dignity is the exact same one that is stripping unions of collective bargaining rights, yet today’s dumb-ed down progressive movement evidently fails to see the big picture. Each to their own silo, they only respond when their own ox is being gored, so they fail to act in concert with each other… and this takes place virtually across the board. I can virtually guarantee you there were no Native Americans protesting under their banner in Madison, WI or Columbus, OH as the working class came under attack.
On April 1, 2011, as Native Americans stood in front of the ballpark demanding they be treated like human beings instead of caricatures, some of the men and women streaming past yelling insults at them were union members (sadly, some of them black)… trust me on that. Why? Because their leadership (their NAACP and union presidents) is either too lazy — or too stupid — to explain to their followers that if, instead of jeering, they protested with these proud people, and threatened to switch their insurance policies to a company whose name is not on a baseball field associated with racism, Chief Wahoo would quickly be sent packing off to retirement — in a New York minute. It’s really as simple as that folks.
And if this same group, a coalition of school teachers, safety forces, toll booth workers, blacks, gays, women, and, yes, Native Americans, could break out of their silos of self-interest and begin acting in concert as true progressives by looking out for each other… we could take back our country from the corporate elite and once again protect the rights of hard-working, true Americans. Not for nothing are some unions called “brotherhoods” — which begs the question, are we truly being our brothers’ keepers?
Your Call May Be Monitored
You’ve no doubt heard the words contained in this title when calling a business (especially one that wants to satisfy their customers… or at least make customers think they want to satisfy them!), but you’ve probably never heard them when calling any kind of government entity. Could it be that — in most cases — government doesn’t give two hoots what kind of experience you have, or how, when, or even “if” your problem was solved at all? For most of us sometimes it certainly seems that way.
The reason I broach the subject is because the Cleveland Water Department is much in the news these days, due to a rate hike it’s proposing. Now, no one likes the government (or anyone else for that matter) raising their rates, but there’s a number of reasons why this one sticks in most people’s craw: First, it’s because of how badly people have been treated by customer services representatives of that department over the years; secondly, no one likes a monopoly… it’s not like you can get your water from the supplier across the street; and perhaps most of all it really doesn’t help when the department can’t seem to handle billing issues expeditiously or fairly.
As Cleveland Water struggles to redefine itself, it might be a good idea to put a message like: “Your call may be monitored to insure the quality of service you receive is as good as the quality of water we provide on a daily basis.” This might also keep customer representatives on their toes… but as long as there are no sanctions for providing bad service (re-training, warnings, and suspensions in the worse cases) little will change no matter how much the rates are jacked up.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.
8 Responses to “MANSFIELD: Silos of Self-Interest”
Moe Bailey
Please explain to us folks who do not go out of the way looking for racial issues, why you believe Chief Wahoo is degrading to American indians.
Is it the smile? Yes, perhaps a smile IS degrading. Lets make it a frown instead.
The red colored skin? Yes, I’ll bet a dark orange or brown would represent the American indians better, to hell with the team colors.
Is it Chief Wahoo himself? Perhaps it is better to never use an image of an American indian in any instance incase it might offend the small few.
You see, I believe the number of American indians who find Chief Wahoo offensive to be in the vast minority. I believe that most fans see Chief Wahoo a great icon and symbol of our proud sports team. Not disparaging the native Americans… but CELEBRATING them. Kids and adults alike choose to wear the symbol our our friendly chief on everything from hats to tattoos. And I’ll bet if asked, not a single one of them has a negative bone in their body towards native Americans, or believes the symbol… a cartoon character… is derogatory of the proud people that once ruled the land. From our state’s name to the county’s and rivers that run through it, American indian influence and pride is everywhere… if you look for it. Racism only exists if you allow it, and if you look for it, you no doubt be able to find it anywhere. When this country, and our people, can look at a person (or in this case – a mascot) and take it for what it is, rather than what it isn’t… is when this country will really be healing as a nation and moving towards abolishing racism once and for all.
Signed,
Moe Bailey
Proud Irishman and Native American
Bubba
@Moe Bailey- Seriously! Irishman and Native American? Everyone claims to be a Native American, but until you’ve lived on a reservation and had to deal with racism and being the victim of hate crimes(http://www.racismagainstindians.org/SDBurning/HateCrimeStat.htm) you have no business weighing in on the matter of what Native Americans find degrading. And your “racism only exists if you allow it” comment is exaclyt right. A degrading charicature exists because stupid sports fans like you allow it to by buying merchandise with a very offensive portrayal of Native Americans on it. Your perception of racism is extremely naive. Just like that pastor in Florida, “the burning of the Quran wasn’t racists, it’s just symbolic of our support of democracy”…or whatever that idiot’s motivation was.
Robert Roche
Moe Bailey
Quite frankly Moe Bailey you have no idea what your talking about .Mr Fraizer hit it right on the mark
I believe all of your speculation (i blieve) has no merit and that you know little about the issue. May I suggest a little research on your part.
You mentioned that you are Native American
what tribe
What Clan
are you tribally enrolled
do you have a CDIB
wheres your reservation
do you know your culture. traditions spiritualiy ,and language. without that you cease to exst as a race of people.
Please don’t answer to me but youself.
Robert Roche a proud Apache
Racism is perpetuated by ignorance.
Joseph Meissner
I have been very proud to join the Wahoo protesters since about 1972. We were together back then at the old Stadium. Again I was there on the picket line with Native Americans on April 1, 2011. Itr seemed like so little has been learned in all those years. There were the same yells, the same chants, even the same arguments (“You should be proud that we honor you with this Chief Wahoo!)
This year we were also joined by Stanley Miller, President of the NAACP. I have the photos to prove all who were there.
You know, I do not worry that much about the older people who have racism in their hearts and do not even know it. I worry about the little children. I worry how they will grow up in an atmosphere of racism. I worry how they will never learn that people are never mascots and that Wahoo must go.
Moe Bailey
Again, to those that are personally offended, lets hear what part of the mascot offends you. I have heard everything from the mischievous smile to a drunken indian. I do not see either when I look at the mascot. Does that make me wrong?
Should I be equally offended by the FIghting Irish mascot that clearly says all Irishmen are drunken fighters? That’s what it means, right? Doesn’t matter because the Irish weren’t victims of hate crimes, right? Better check your history.
Point is… you could probably take EVERY mascot in the school and sports world and make a case so that it offends some body or some group. Personally, I think there are bigger fish to fry regarding racism than spending time and energy fighting such subjective views as team mascots.
As far as what percentage of this race or that race is concerned, it doesn’t really matter. I only mentioned the fact because I am sensitive to my culture. To say no one should weight in on the matter unless they grew up on a reservation is absurd. Should only ex-slaves be able to chime in on black racial issues.
I might not always agree with you, but I will listen to your opinion and respect your right to express it.
Darla
Whenever I see Chief Wahoo I smile because it make me think of summer days and potato salad and my uncles arguing baseball.
However, my overwhelmingly positive feelings about the mascot do not outweigh the pain and shame Native Americans may feel about it.
I agree with Mansfield. Get rid of it. Go back to the old name , The Cleveland Spiders.How awesome is that? Spiders man.
Anastasia
I don’t like baseball and never thought about the mascot until back in the 90s when the team first went into post-season play. A friend of mine was just out of the hospital and asked if I could go get her a playoff T-shirt the day they went on sale “but please nothing with Wahoo.” So I went to the store and looked, and frankly, recoiled when I looked at Wahoo. There’s nothing cute about him, and even if as a white person you think there is, you have to respect the persons being depicted. At this point, this is all about the macho swagger of the owners. Teams change logos ALL the time in order to sell a whole new set of merchandise. The Indians could have done this decades ago.
Northeast
I proudly donned my Chief Wahoo hat for years. I bought into the excuse that the disfigured caricature and name actually honored Louis Sockalexis, an member of the Penobscot tribe who played for Cleveland for two years. As professor Kimberly Roppolo states in her essay “Symbolic Racism, History, and Reality: The Real Problem With Indian Mascots”: “I realize that many people see no problem with the use of American Indians as sports mascots … we are in a day and age where racial tolerance and tolerance for all kinds of diversity have increased. But this is not the case with racism against American Indians, largely so ingrained in the American consciousness that it is invisible.”
I associated mindless racism with entertainment, with trips to Jacobs Field with my father. It may seem like this issue only hurts Native Americans, but it also hurts the cultural mindset of Northeast Ohio. We must demand sports teams stop brainwashing children to associate discrimination (even if on a subconcious level) with family and tradition.