Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy over American Indian Mascots

ISBN-13: 9780814781265 Publisher: New York University Press Publication date: 09/01/2000 Pages: 308 Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.04(d) A persuasive and compassionate analysis of the appropriation of Native American culture in sportsSports fans love to don paint and feathers to cheer on the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves, the Florida State Seminoles, and the Warriors and Chiefs of their hometown high schools. But outside the stadiums, American Indians aren't cheering—they're yelling racism. School boards and colleges are bombarded with emotional demands from both sides, while professional teams find themselves in court defending the right to trademark their Indian names and logos. In the face of opposition by a national anti-mascot movement, why are fans so determined to retain the fictional chiefs who plant flaming spears and dance on the fifty-yard line? To answer this question, Dancing at Halftime takes the reader on a journey through