Posted on 02/03/2023 11:31:23 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
The Kansas City Chiefs’ unprecedented success has made them the darling of the National Football League. Their high-flying quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, has attracted new fans from around the world, and local businesses benefit from the millions of dollars spent by spectators reveling in the team's success.
But, as the city at-large celebrates their third Super Bowl appearance in four seasons, many fans feel conflicted. Some feel outright alienated every time they see that arrowhead-shaped logo or the so-called “tomahawk chop.”
“Our people were rounded up, kids stolen from their families, sent to boarding schools … and stripped of their culture and identity,” said Rhonda LeValdo, a Haskell Indian Nations University professor, Acoma Pueblo activist and founder of the Not In Our Honor coalition.
“Their religion was outlawed, they could not practice their ceremonies, they couldn't sing their songs,” LeValdo said. “So why is it OK for the fans in Kansas City to play Indian, when our people weren't allowed to be Indian?”
LeValdo's coalition has protested the team’s use of Native American imagery and traditions since 2005, but she’s been on the front lines of Native activism for decades.
LeValdo thinks the team’s behavior is a mockery of Native culture, and said it harms mental health.
Scientific research backs her up: The American Psychological Association said in a 2005 report that “a growing body of social science literature shows the harmful effects of racial stereotyping and inaccurate racial portrayals, including the particularly harmful effects of American Indian sports mascots on the social identity development and self-esteem of American Indian young people.”
LeValdo, who is a fan of the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas Jayhawks, said she also wants to be a fan of pro football in Kansas City, but team traditions like the banging of a ceremonial drum before the game make it impossible.
“Your drums are important pieces to your tribe. Anytime you have a powwow there is no alcohol allowed,” LeValdo said, noting how freely the beer flows in the stands at Arrowhead. “You don't do that. That's sacrilege.”
For podcast creator Mat Hostetler, watching the 2020 Super Bowl with a group of friends who weren’t Chiefs fans became an awkward affair because of fans’ penchant for doing the tomahawk chop.
“There was just a noticeable uncomfortableness after that first touchdown that Patrick Mahomes ran in,” he said. “You can see the fans doing that chop in the background, and you hear that chant coming through.”
“I think this current team is way too exciting for the Kansas City community to (have to) feel embarrassed about it,” Hostetler said.
Hostetler, who grew up in Kansas, created the podcast “Sometimes It Rains” to explore the intersection of sports and social justice. He now lives in New York, and considers himself a lifelong fan of Kansas City football.
His problems with the League go beyond Native team names and imagery. He says diversity among ownership — in a league whose players are 75% African American — is a problem.
“Especially Black ownership, but really (there’s) no minority ownership whatsoever in the NFL,” Hostetler said.
Efforts to diversify management have fallen short, he said, including the 20-year-old “Rooney Rule,” which requires all NFL teams interview at least one minority candidate before filling an open coaching job.
“I know the Rooney Rule had the best of intentions, but I think we're seeing that it's yielding all kinds of problems, in that it's essentially a checkmark, so to speak, that doesn't really require you to give any actual attention or intent to hiring Black coaches,” he said. “I think that's a huge problem.”
The rule hasn’t resulted in a head coaching position for Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy, who is Black, despite the fact he is one of the best assistant coaches in the League.
Dr. Justin Chandler is a neurovascular neurologist at Centerpoint Medical Center in Independence, and a die-hard Chiefs fan.
As a former high school football player, he understands the benefits the sport can bring, including a boost in character development and better teamwork skills.
As a doctor who studies brain health, he also knows the sport can lead to repeated brain trauma.
“You can get really bad sheer injuries when (that happens, and) that can cause permanent neurological deficits,” he said.
And the big, dramatic hits that many fans relate to concussions aren’t what worry him most.
“The accumulation of the small ones over time ends up leading to our chronic traumatic encephalopathy,” he said.
Traumatic brain injuries have been a stain on the NFL since at least 2005, and the release of the movie “Concussion.” The film documented the League's cover-up of CTE, a degenerative condition that can only be detected in the brain after someone has died
“It ends up leading to our memory problems, and it ends up leading to different psychiatric manifestations of concussions over time as well,” Chandler said. “A big part of that is depression, increased aggression — all of these systems are affected within the brain.”
A 2017 study at Boston University showed 99% of all former players whose brains were tested after death showed signs of the disease.
That list of 111 athletes includes Hall of Famers Junior Seau and Mike Webster.
Former Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher is also on that list. On Dec. 1, 2012, Belcher killed his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins at their home, then drove to the team's practice facility where he shot himself in the head.
An attorney involved in subsequent lawsuits against the Chiefs claimed the team knew Belcher and his significant other were having major domestic violence issues, and that he had a major concussion two weeks prior.
Chandler acknowledged the NFL has made great strides on brain health over the past decade, but he knows they can do better.
“I think the league comes out and they say, ‘This is our No. 1 priority,’ and then … they put their money where their mouth is,” he said. “I think that they (need to) dump as much as they can into technology, into research, into rehabilitation.”
“Taking full ownership and responsibility of the risk is something that society will also respond to. … It also addresses the moral complexity of watching somebody go out there and take a hit for your entertainment,” Chandler said.
“Their religion was outlawed, they could not practice their ceremonies, they couldn't sing their songs,” LeValdo said. “So why is it OK for the fans in Kansas City to play Indian, when our people weren't allowed to be Indian?”
And yet, here you are, alive and well in 2022, able to practice your culture and identity.
I miss El Rushbo SO much every day. Damn cancer… ☹️
The former Dallas Texans stole all of those “traditions” from Florida State anyways.
One more reason to bet on the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Mahomes and the Chiefs have been there before. I don’t why they are underdogs. I always bet on the Super Bowl underdog. My SB underdog picks win or cover about 75% of the time. The Patriots have a terrible record for not covering their Super Bowl point spreads.
“Your drums are important pieces to your tribe. Anytime you have a powwow there is no alcohol allowed,” LeValdo said, noting how freely the beer flows in the stands at Arrowhead. “You don’t do that. That’s sacrilege.”
Sheer comedy. She is willfully lying. She is from Acoma, it’s a lead pipe cinch she has attended the annual Gathering of Nations Pow wow in Albuquerque. You will find massive numbers of drunk Indians there... like it or not.
This clown is lying.
Translation: “Let’s remove all mention of Native peoples from popular culture. Because racism, or something.”
I have heard that FSU has the blessing of the Seminole nation to use their name as a mascot. I would like to see a Texas sports team called the Comanches. They were bad ass fighters who made an excellent light cavalry fighting on horseback.
Those are the people that never watched football, or cared about the sport. It was just something they marched, because everyone else was watching it.
“Traumatic brain injuries have been a stain on the NFL since at least 2005, and the release of the movie “Concussion.” The film documented the League’s cover-up of CTE, a degenerative condition that can only be detected in the brain after someone has died “It ends up leading to our memory problems, and it ends up leading to different psychiatric manifestations of concussions over time as well,” “
Yeah? And coal miners get black lung. Oilfield workers are exposed to chemicals and injuries. Ranchers get injured by animals. Rodeo cowboys walk with a limp after a few years.
Chemical workers get exposed to carcinogens, truckers get health problems like poor circulation in the legs from sitting all day. Cops and Firemen get PTSD and carcinogens.
Every job has it’s risks. Grow up and quit ruining the world over a Will Smith movie.
How about a team name of Gay Activists? Then the fans could surround other fans and force them to bake a cake.
I think you deserve reparations.
“Our people were rounded up, kids stolen from their families, sent to boarding schools … and stripped of their culture and identity,” said Rhonda LeValdo…
“Their religion was outlawed, they could not practice their ceremonies, they couldn’t sing their songs,” LeValdo said.“
Yes, a hundred and fifty years ago…
Today, Miss LeValdo can practice ANY culture, have ANY identity, change it daily and practice ANY religion (except maybe Christianity..) and sing ANY song she wants.
Why the butt-hurt??? She never lived through any of that oppression. She’s free in the USA to be as freaky as she darn well pleases.
So disingenuous…
The Seattle Seahawks tried to steal the "12th man" from my Texas A&M Aggies. It went nowhere, because A&M had the "12th man" about half a century before the Seahawks were formed.
Typical Paleface behavior, remove the Indian, keep the land.
First the Washington Redskins.
Then the Cleveland Indians
It is only a matter of time before the Kansas City Chiefs are forced to change their name.
The team should be proactive change their name now. It would be better than having to fight for years like the Redskins had to.
Professional football and professional sports in general are no longer about sports. They are about political correctness.
“It is only a matter of time before the Kansas City Chiefs are forced to change their name.”
Never gonna happen. Never.... back east people worry about that more.
NPR’s gonna NPR...
Poor Little Karen
I would like to encourage Ms. LeValdo to take her crusade against 'cultural appropriation' back home. The Acoma nation operates a casino, hotel, and several gas stations, all of which are types of businesses that originated in other cultures. She should suggest to the tribal government that those businesses be sold, or better yet, torn down (since they are located on sovereign tribal land). After all, she wouldn't want any of the Acoma folks "to play white man", would she? That would look way to hypocritical!
;^)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.