Katy Perry at Coachella: "A sight for Squaw Eyes"

I thought this one deserved its own post outside of the hipster headdresses. Observe the outright ignorant racism of The Sun in the UK:

(original post: here)

Notice 4 things:

1. The headline: Katy's "Poca face"?

2. The text: "Katy Perry looks a sight for squaw eyes"? and she could have "doubled for Pocahontas"?

3. Her pose: please tell me she's acting demure and not war-whooping?

4. The photo caption: "How girl"?

The Sun managed to wrap four of the most egregious and horrible stereotypes into one little post. So, first of all, of course there's the mention of Pocahontas, the only female Indian that anyone seems to know. Then, the use of the absolutely demeaning and offensive word "squaw" (read this article if you want/need more background on the term). Then, her pose, doing the stereotypical war whoop that is characteristic of almost any bad western movie or any non-Native attempting to do an "Indian dance". Finally, the caption. Because we all know that every Native in the US greets each other with a solemn face and says "How." Sigh. This is just a mess.

Can we play a little imagination game and think of this with Katy in an African-inspired dress? would that fly at all?

Here's the article: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/2937413/Katys-wearing-her-Poca-face.html

(Thanks Lisa!)

You too can own your very own Tommy Tomahawk!

 For the low price of $699.99 (It's on sale!). The description:

This Indian Brave Mascot Costume gives a boost to your school spirit.  Shindigz is your place to find the fiercest and most affordable mascot costumes.

Fierce AND affordable. 

http://www.shindigz.com/party/Indian-Mascot.cfm

(Thanks Scott!)

Stilwell High School's New Mascot

(image via www.cherokeephoenix.org)

I receive the Cherokee Phoenix (the Cherokee Nation newspaper) weekly by email, and today opened my inbox to this article about Stilwell HS (located in Stilwell, OK) and their new mascot, Tommy Tomahawk. Stilwell High School's student population is 70% Native, the vast majority of whom are Cherokee. The Phoenix article is addressing the controversy surrounding Tommy's unveiling, and it seems the school "didn't intend to offend anyone" (duh):

“It was done strictly to create school spirit because they’re proud of their Indian heritage,” Fletcher said. “Primarily, it was something the kids got after and promoted. Even our Indian heritage club was part of (the) promotion of that and donated funds for that.”

That (alarming and maddening) statement from a school official reminded me of this great cartoon that manages to capture so much:

(image via http://www.bluecorncomics.com/stharm.htm)

Though the school (and, apparently some of the students) consider the new mascot honorable, many of us would beg to differ, including some of the Cherokee Nation citizens:

CN citizen and Stilwell alumna Melanie Knight said she was disappointed the school would create a mascot that is a caricature and warped image of American Indians.

“It has been difficult to address long-term mascots that have become part of some schools’ history and legacy,” she said. “This is an opportunity to prevent that from happening. Tommy Tomahawk and his personification clearly says to me that Indians are a joke.”

The mascot follows the pattern of most other Indian mascots--his clothing reflects a "plains" style, though not a correct representation of any tribal dress, he has the stereotypical long braids and face paint, and, of course, he is styled to look menacing.

I won't get into the meat of the mascot issue here, but there are some strong faq, articles and analysis that you can read here:

http://aistm.org/fr.faqs.htm

http://contexts.org/socimages/2008/09/22/some-native-american-sports-mascots/

http://www.bluecorncomics.com/mascots.htm

The bottom line is, how can you look at that mascot and not think it is dehumanizing and racist? Especially if the school was attempting to "honor" the Native students?

Also, for reference, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith in traditional clothing:

(image via http://www.berrybeadwork.com/)

Stilwell High School's Indian Mascot Causes Stir: http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/21050/Article.aspx

Miley Cyrus Asian Photo: Racist Picture Causes Stir

Miley Cyrus is in trouble for something fairly unexpected—a photo where she makes a questionable, potentially racist gesture.

TMZ obtained the photo, which showed Miley Cyrus standing around with friends. Miley is the one sitting in the middle, on the lap of her boyfriend, Justin Gaston. They were stretching their eyelids—widely recognized as a racist gesture towards Asians. Despite an Asian-American present in the picture, an organization still objects to the photo.

The OCA, an Asian-American activist group in the U.S., is demanding an apology from Cyrus.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that Cyrus could have possibly been intoxicated or under the influence. As seen in the photo above, a male is holding a glass of wine.

Much more than the controversial poses the group makes for the camera, what does this picture say about Cyrus in general? Is she surrounding herself with the right people? Look at past teenage stars, such as Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan. I’m personally not one to jump to conclusions, but it certainly doesn’t help her public image.

Lindsay Britney of Hollywood Celebs’ Gossips believes that the Hannah Montana star is OK, and thinks that it was a matter of finding a “ridiculous pose.” FILEUNDERI tends to agree.

What do you think? Is this a racist situation like the activist group claims, or is this mere overreaction?