Cleveland Indians Symbol example essay topic

Cara Levitt 2/6/03 Journal #3 Last week's class was very interesting, even though being a Psych major, I have hatched the topic of stereotypes to death. It was interesting to see other people's views and reactions when confronted with stereotypes. I think that every situation can be interpreted differently. It's hard to see that not everyone thinks the way you think. Sometimes people have trouble understanding why something they think is trivial is offensive to someone else. I noticed this when we were discussing the baseball team names being offensive such as the Cleveland Indians.

At first I thought that it was not a big deal because it was just a sports team name. It was not intended to be offensive, threatening or demeaning. It's just so much time as past, that the names have stayed out of tradition. It does stereotype Native Americans as Indians with brown skin, a big nose, and a headdress. I do not personally look at the symbol and think all Native Americans must look this way. When asked to describe a typical Native American, that symbol for the Cleveland Indians does not pop into my head.

I'm not the hugest sports fan either, so I never have really thought about. I assume that a person of average of intelligence knows better than to think that all Native Americans must resemble the Cleveland Indians symbol. Yet, I'm probably wrong because I should never assume. I also think that political correctness America has become somewhat of a joke.

It seems that everyone seems to be crying about something, everyone has been offended somehow. People hold their tongues a lot more now, so they don't get sued. It does not mean they still don't think the same thoughts. It's hard to change people and it seems that for the most part, people don't want to bother taking the effort to change.

The only way I could relate to was when Jessica made the analogy of the baseball team having a Jewish icon and fans screaming, "Malzoltov! Malzoltov!" it made more sense to me because I am also Jewish and could see how then having a stereotype for a mascot could be offensive. Even though people do not know it, they are mocking another culture. It seems trivial but I think that the little things do have an impact on us.

Also when the guest speaker made the comparison to Lehigh students being, "preppy white boys". It changed my perspective and I understand why little things like a baseball team logo could offend people. When I look at the issue from a small perspective and how in a world with so much diversity, so many things can offend someone. Stereotypes are all around us and I know that we have to have them. I know it's impossible not to have them. I've learned that I can't let negative stereotypes bother me.

I hear Jewish jokes all the time, I even laugh at them, because I know they " re not true. On a personal level I know it doesn't matter what others think of me, it only matter what I think of myself. On a more worldly level, as for history, stereotypes are all that is going to be remembered. A hundred years from now, kids are going to read about the 21st century in a history book or watch a documentary. Our whole existence will be crammed in one 30-page chapter or a 2-hour movie.

Our stereotypes will become history, and people will believe it as the truth, just as we believe our history books as the truth. Do we really know what the Roman and Greek life was like? Did they really walk around in togas with leaves in their hair? We weren't there, all we know is what anthropologists and old literature tell us. The only truth we know is that there is no truth. Therefore, I can't say stereotypes don't matter.