I just got an email from one of my students. This is why I love TA’ing:

Hey Lindsey,

I hope I didn’t offend [that other student] in class last Thursday. I was just trying to shed light on the fact that a capitalist society would not care that a football team’s mascot is offensive to a minority group of people. I think the best that could happen is that their team name might get a nickname. For example, in the NBA, the New York Knicks, as they are known now, were the New York Knickerbockers in the 1960′s. It was changed for its resemblance to the derogatory word “Nigger”-bocker. So now it’s just the Knicks. I feel that the only reason that was even possible is because of power in numbers. There was the entire civil rights movement taking place at the time and they demanded change. The best they got was a nickname.
The other solution would be an outright purchase of the team and a name change. You could imagine how costly that would be; it’s just not feasible.
To be completely honest, every culture could cry a river about the persecutions and inequalities about how they were treated. No offense, while Natives are arguing about the name “Redskins” (amongst other problems), my people, the Copts in Egypt have to worry about bombings outside of churches, Muslims kidnapping young girls, raping them and forcing them to convert to Islam, and while the world was celebrating New Year’s Day, my people had to bury a priest that had his throat slit the day before, along with all the bodies from the explosion. All of this got about 15 seconds of news coverage on a local channel. There is not much that can be done but to try to enlighten the minds of ignorant people.
Earlier today, I felt [that other student] took it to the next level saying that white America was trying to be like the Indians in that “culture sharing” video. The way I see it today, all religion is being defaced and on the decline in the eyes of the public. I was watching the LMFAO video “Party Rock Anthem” and it had “Jesus” dancing in the middle of a circle. It’s so easy to take offense to every little thing, but you cannot live life like that.
Anyway, I’m done babbling. Just thought I would share some thoughts. I didn’t want to offend anyone else during class. Sorry for long email, but this class brought up some intriguing topics and touchy subjects I would have never thought about.

My response:

I don’t think Robert was offended… It’s a frustrating subject to talk about, especially when some people in the room have dealt personally with the things you mention, and other have never even had to be aware of them. I think you’re right in some ways – there are “bigger” problems for most People of Color groups than mascots and
cultural appropriation. There was this big study published recently that found that Native women are more likely than any other group to be stalked/assaulted/raped/molested or otherwise attacked, and that
one in four Native women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime (and almost always, the perpetrator is a white man). It’s hard to make a fuss about hipsters in headdresses given those staggering numbers, but for me, I see them as connected.
Every time a white person wears a headdress, or does a fake sweatlodge ceremony, or gets a dreamcatcher tattoo, “real” Native culture becomes a little more invisible, and so do “real” Native people. And when Native people are made invisible this way, it’s a lot easier for the BIA and the federal government as a whole to ignore statistics about
sexual violence against Native women (and other issues faced by Native communities). I also think there’s a link between culture being made “consumable” as a commodity this way, and actual people being made “consumable”… when people are commodified, they don’t matter, and then they sort of become inherently rape-able. And, as you point out, people who “don’t matter” to the dominant society don’t get much coverage in the media, even when there are hugely tragic events going on.
As far as religion being in decline, I think you’re right in all cases except Christianity. It’s hard for me to believe the power of the church is in decline when they still have so much money and they still do so much harm in Native communities. Was your section the one where we talked about how for most of the 1900′s, when there were rumors
about a Catholic priest abusing kids they would just send him to a parish on an Indian reservation, especially in Alaska? I mean, I was raised Christian and majored in Religious Studies as an undergrad and still didn’t find out about how bad this crap was until I started taking Ethnic Studies classes.
Anyway, there’s my rambly answer to your rambly question :) …. I’m so glad class has got you thinking!!

See you Thursday,
Lindsey