No Hawks jerseys in Toronto schools? Just an FYI for fans here

[HogtownSabresfan]

http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/...ng-with-offensive-team-logos-group-urges.html

Click to read more...

 

[crazyhawk]

I find it a stretch to lump the Blackhawks in with the Indians or Redskins as far as a derogatory 1st nations association.
The Blackhawks are named after the 86th Infantry in WWl nicknamed the Blackhawks which was named after the Sauk Chief Blackhawk. The team is named after an actual person and is in no way derogatory.'
These bleeding heart, politically correct _______ ( fill in the blank ) really irk me!

 

[theaub]

Ah yes the PC garbage clowns in full display

Maybe they should ban Leaf jerseys since that fosters a learning environment that tolerates complete and utter failure

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

If done properly there's nothing wrong it. It's asinine to lump the Indian head in with the redskins or chief wahoo.

 

[JaegerDice]

Just because a group says they should doesn't mean the schools will do it.

They probably have nut bars demanding they bay something or other every other week.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Our logo is of an actual person from history, not some anonymous figure.

Would it be better if we depicted chief Blackhawk as a white male? No, because we're named after a real Indian chief.

Only stupid people find this racist.

 

[piteus]

These idiots. I find the Toronto Maple Leafs are a pejorative sight to professional hockey but you don't see me complaining.

1. People are offended by the "Redskins" name ... not their logo. Their logo is respectful. Their name is not.

2. The original Chief Wahoo is a deragatory image highlighting the perceived features of the Native American (large nose / big teeth). Yes ... it is offensive.

3. The Blackhawks are named after a US military "platoon" ... who were honoring a certain Native American Leader. The logo is respectful and complimentary.

4. The Blackhawks don't do the lame "tomahawk chop" or any sort of demeaning Native American celebratory gestures. In fact, the Blackhawks blare their foghorn and play the Chelsea Dagger which has nothing to do with Native American heritage. In fact, the organization has gone out of its way to stop to slogan of "commit to the Indian."

 

[TeddyGoalsevelt]

This is probably going to be unpopular, but here goes nothing.

The Blackhawks are nowhere near the Redskins -- which is a SLUR -- or Chief Wahoo.

If you don't believe either of those things are racist, don't even bother reading the rest of this or replying because I don't want to hear it. You could never have a team called the Blackskins (or worse) with a stereotypical face of a black man. It's degrading.

Same thing goes for the tomahawk chop. If you're the descendant of native populations, I'm sure it brings great joy to your heart to see the descendants of the people who killed your ancestors sing/chant while making ridiculous chopping motions. Because, hey, that's all the natives were good for, amirite?

The Blackhawks are a special case. They didn't name their team after an entire race of people. They named it after a military division. That division happened to be named after a person who belonged to native populations. Totally fine. Where the slight problem arises, is that is not Black Hawk on the sweater. It's just some random native face.

So really, the back-story is kinda worthless. What does it matter if it's named after a military division or Black Hawk himself when in the end, the image is still just some generic native face?

 

[Autism]

This is absurd!

 

[Marotte Marauder]

I am so sick and tired of people who wake up each day just teetering on the brink of being offended.

So, you're offended, go off and have a good cry.

 

[emeyezee]

I love the logo. LOVE it.

I wear it with pride wherever I go. I also don't think our logo is near as bad as the redskins or chief wahoo.

HOWEVER, if it gets to the point where there is enough pressure and support to change it, then I would probably be ok with it changing. That's simply because I'm not in a spot to say what Native Americans are/aren't offended by. That's not me, nor my history, so it's not my place to speak about it.

I would be extremely surprised if the name changes, though.

 

[JaegerDice]

I love the logo. LOVE it.

I wear it with pride wherever I go. I also don't think our logo is near as bad as the redskins or chief wahoo.

HOWEVER, if it gets to the point where there is enough pressure and support to change it, then I would probably be ok with it changing. That's simply because I'm not in a spot to say what Native Americans are/aren't offended by. That's not me, nor my history, so it's not my place to speak about it.

I would be extremely surprised if the name changes, though.

I agree with this.

I love the logo, but if enough people are offended by it, then frankly a sports team isn't the hill I'm willing to die on as far as telling other people how they should feel about their own representation.

I haven't seen the kind of movement against the Indian Head as I have against the Red Skins though.

 

[piteus]

I am so sick and tired of people who wake up each day just teetering on the brink of being offended.

So, you're offended, go off and have a good cry.

I would be offended if I was Native American and heard a team named the "Redskins." If you're not offended, I dare you to say it to the next Native American you encounter.

There was a town in Illinois called Pekin that called itself a certain deragatory name in the 70s. Their excuse to call itself the "C****s" was that you could dig a hole from Pekin straight down to China. I kid you not. Sometimes you have to use some common sense and empathy to come up with the correct solution.

 

[Your Reality Check]

I'm perfectly okay with telling Native Americans what they should and shouldn't be offended by. If they want it banned, then they should of won the war.

I'm tired of hearing people constantly complaining. I just tune it out now.

 

[JaegerDice]

I'm perfectly okay with telling Native Americans what they should and shouldn't be offended by. If they want it banned, then they should of won the war.

I'm tired of hearing people constantly complaining. I just tune it out now.

Uh, which war?

 

[TeddyGoalsevelt]

"I'm so sick of these people being sick of us appropriating their culture for our sports! This is our history! Our tradition! Native tribes just wouldn't understand!"

That's what you sound like. You cannot get mad because people are standing up for themselves. I mean, you can, you just sound ridiculous.

People these days lament "PC culture". They like to pretend as if people just started disliking these things. People disliked this stuff since it's inception -- but the response back then was "Shut up native. Go back to your reservation. What more do you want? No one cares what you think."

Now we're coming around as a country and people finally see an opening for their voices to be heard. So now they're trying to shine a light on the things they've wished to change all along.

Some of us listen critically to what they're saying, and others dress in red face and shout "I'M HONORING YOU" in their faces. And some of us complain about PC culture.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I should've stopped reading at "equity officer"

 

[x Tame Impala]

Some of us listen critically to what they're saying, and others dress in red face and shout "I'M HONORING YOU" in their faces. And some of us complain about PC culture.

If putting Blackhawk-themed face paint on my little cousins when I take them to their first Blackawks game offends you then I don't really care, too bad for you and your delicate sensibilities.

Not to mention, if your extremely "holier than though" excerpt on how some of us are critical and some of us complain about PC Culture wasn't DOA due to bad logic, it's instantly meaningless from your hypocrisy. You can't be a fan of a sports team and then decry their logo as offensive. You even have indian feathers in your avatar! What a joke.

Give me a freaking break.

 

[TeddyGoalsevelt]

Honestly, I want everyone reading this to think critically about this next question:

Are you really honoring the "Indian head"? Do you really, truly, and honestly respect it as much as you say you do?

Because if you do respect it as much as you say you do, then you respect what it represents. And what it represents is Black Hawk. A native from the Illinois area who fought against the United States not once, but twice, to try and stave off expansion/keep his people's territory.

He lost.
His people lost.
All of the native people lost.
Their populations are devastated to this day.

The ancestors of those people find the logo offensive. Not all of them, and definitely not the ones the Blackhawks organization pays, but most of them.

If you truly respect it, you'd at the very least be open to discussing it.

 

[piteus]

I'm perfectly okay with telling Native Americans what they should and shouldn't be offended by. If they want it banned, then they should of won the war.

I'm tired of hearing people constantly complaining. I just tune it out now.

Dude ... we took their land; gave them disease, alcohol, and poverty; and destroyed their heritage.

There was no war, it was genocide. Honestly, I don't think they really care about these dumb sports names. They'd rather we provide Federal / private assistance for education, basic infrastructure construction, drug / alcohol control, etc. That's what they really need.

 

[TeddyGoalsevelt]

You even have indian feathers in your avatar! What a joke.

There's nothing wrong with naming a team after a native guy. Just like there's nothing wrong with naming your team after a black guy.

But the face on the sweater is not Black Hawk. It's another random stereotypical native face that is no better than any other sports team.

That's like me saying I'm naming a team after MLK and then having some random stereotypical black guy as the logo. It's a non sequitur.

 

[JaegerDice]

Honestly, I want everyone reading this to think critically about this next question:

Are you really honoring the "Indian head"? Do you really, truly, and honestly respect it as much as you say you do?

Because if you do respect it as much as you say you do, then you respect what it represents. And what it represents is Black Hawk. A native from the Illinois area who fought against the United States not once, but twice, to try and stave off expansion/keep his people's territory.

He lost.
His people lost.
All of the native people lost.
Their populations are devastated to this day.

The ancestors of those people find the logo offensive. Not all of them, and definitely not the ones the Blackhawks organization pays, but most of them.

If you truly respect it, you'd at the very least be open to discussing it.

It's absolutely worth discussing, I just haven't seen much discussion outside of hypotheticals.

Like, I just haven't seen the same kind of offense toward the Blackhawks logo as I've seen towards the Red Skins and other sports teams.

If I saw it, then I would respect it.

It's a sports team. I'm not going to be the self-important ***hole that says 'my sports team is more important than your cultural representation'. That would be nuts.

 

[Marotte Marauder]

I'm perfectly okay with telling Native Americans what they should and shouldn't be offended by. If they want it banned, then they should of won the war.

I'm tired of hearing people constantly complaining. I just tune it out now.

Yes, there is an appropriate saying. To the victor go the spoils. Always has, always will...whining not withstanding.

 

[x Tame Impala]

It is possible to respect the losing side in a war.

From the Hawks website...

McLaughlin had served as a commander in the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Division of the U.S. Army. Members of his division called themselves Black Hawks in honor of the Sauk Indian chief who sided with the British in the War of 1812.

The team name and logo were chosen because McLaughlin was inspired by the bravery and ferocity of a Chief who fought for what he believed in. Just because someone is offended by something doesn't make it offensive. If having that logo on t-shirts, center ice, and the floor of a locker room offends you, then again, too bad. The offended's opinion isn't the only one that matters.

 

[TeddyGoalsevelt]

It's absolutely worth discussing, I just haven't seen much discussion outside of hypotheticals.

Like, I just haven't seen the same kind of offense toward the Blackhawks logo as I've seen towards the Red Skins and other sports teams.

Yeah, the Blackhawks are infinitely better than those other teams when it comes to representation of the image. Partly because of the history, and partly because the Blackhawks do a lot of good for native populations and charities. Plus, we're not stomping our feet like children saying it's our history, how we'll never change the name etc. Cough cough, Dan Snyder.

Once he falls, it'll be the beginning of the end. The Blackhawks will probably be the last to change, but eventually, they probably will. I won't love them any less. I'll still be refreshing my "smart contact lenses" every 15 mins to see who we nab in the 2063 TDL. Probably not safe to do while driving...