A rose by any other name...unless its derogatory.

The past few years has seen an increase in the calls to replace the mascots of  professional sports teams and colleges who may carry racial stereotypes or promote cultural insensitivity. This is predominantly occurring where Native American tribes, nicknames, and likenesses are being used. The United States Congress and most recently the U.S. Senate have sent letters to the Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to change the name of his franchise. Several Universities have changed their mascots due to NCAA pressure on post season appearances and revenue after their mascots were deemed "hostile and offensive". USA today compiled a list in September 2013. Four schools successfully appealed and were allowed to keep their Native American nicknames. I know in the case of University of Utah that they have taken extra efforts to honor the Ute tradition and cultivate a positive relationship with the Ute Tribe. They have been very active at encouraging fans to be respectful of the Ute culture by not dressing in costumes or donning face paint meant to represent native warriors. They kept the Utes as a school nickname but the official mascot of the university is actually the red tailed hawk.

If you want to blow up the internet in Utah just suggest that the University of Utah change its nickname and drum and feather logo. Fans (and we are talking fanatics) start name calling, speculating and disparaging the Ute tribe, the university, BYU (which confuses me), the LDS church (also confusing), and anyone else who could be behind such a preposterous idea. I am going to do some speculating and generalization here but it would seem that the fans who are most upset by the idea of changing the team in anyway are not college educated and are also the same fans who pour beer on Max Halls family. These fans seem to think that by changing the University of Utah nickname and logo that a part of them is being changed as well. Their identity seems to be tied very closely to their team. It appears that they feel entitled to the cultural heritage attached to the University without actually knowing what that heritage is. 

I am a Mormon (a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and as such I do many things that are sacred to me as part of my heritage and beliefs that many people not familiar with the church wouldn't understand. It would be very uncomfortable for me to see people using any of these practices out of context and without any real understanding of their purpose and meaning. I think that is exactly what is happening with Native Americans and our sports mascots. The drum and feather, feather head-dresses, bead patterns, dances, war cries, songs and other aspects of Native American culture that the Utes and other tribes hold as sacred ought not to be flaunted and displayed carelessly. I think there is a way to celebrate Native American qualities that are respected (why would sports teams use those likenesses unless out of a form of respect) without demeaning or trivializing aspects of that culture.