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The Chiel wrote:Well, I'm "unwoke" enough to believe this isn't actually the worst thing in the world, but I'm simply astonished Tony Rowe can't see the way the tide is flowing and move right away from the American Indian elements of his marketing.
Expect the social media pressure on Exeter to now be massively increased, and probably a Boris style u turn at some point.
biffer wrote:So, I don’t know how many people have been following this, but in line with what’s been happening in US sports, the Exeter Chiefs have been getting pressurised to change their branding (not their name). Today they’ve said they’ll drop the cartoon mascot, but not anything else, and they’ll make no further comment.
So here’s the question. If we draw them in the Heineken, are we ok with middle aged white guys doing the tomahawk chop, the war cry and wearing cheap plastic Native American headdresses? Headdresses have a special place in their culture, they are earned and markers of respect. I’d be deeply uncomfortable with it, I might go as far as complain or ask the question of the SRU in advance; the terms and conditions of entry specifically state that racism won’t be tolerated.
Views?
Rico wrote:To be fair though, I think having a team called “Saracens” (and with a logo utilising a symbol of a major religion which is in active use across the world) is equally, if not more, problematic than “Chiefs”...
Rico wrote:It strikes me as a pretty easy compromise for Exeter to switch from “Chiefs” to “Chieftains” and to have a logo that was, say, more ancient Briton-y rather than Native American. As others have noted, an outright refusal to consider a change is pretty tone deaf on their part.
To be fair though, I think having a team called “Saracens” (and with a logo utilising a symbol of a major religion which is in active use across the world) is equally, if not more, problematic than “Chiefs”...
robdinsdale wrote:Rico wrote:To be fair though, I think having a team called “Saracens” (and with a logo utilising a symbol of a major religion which is in active use across the world) is equally, if not more, problematic than “Chiefs”...
I don't think there's any need for us to get offended on anyone else's behalf. I live in an Islamic country and I can assure you that there are about a million more things that are more offensive to Islamic culture than a sports team using the crescent and the star.
I've just done some Turkish language googling about Saracens and there are no negative comments that I could find. I did find that there is a Sunday League football team set up by Turkish-Cypriots called London Saracens though.
biffer wrote:Rico wrote:It strikes me as a pretty easy compromise for Exeter to switch from “Chiefs” to “Chieftains” and to have a logo that was, say, more ancient Briton-y rather than Native American. As others have noted, an outright refusal to consider a change is pretty tone deaf on their part.
To be fair though, I think having a team called “Saracens” (and with a logo utilising a symbol of a major religion which is in active use across the world) is equally, if not more, problematic than “Chiefs”...
Again, it's not the name, it's the branding. If Saracens had a comedy mascot that looked like this
And their fans chanted a parody of the call to prayer, then they'd be doing the equivalent of Exeter.
Rico wrote:robdinsdale wrote:Rico wrote:To be fair though, I think having a team called “Saracens” (and with a logo utilising a symbol of a major religion which is in active use across the world) is equally, if not more, problematic than “Chiefs”...
I don't think there's any need for us to get offended on anyone else's behalf. I live in an Islamic country and I can assure you that there are about a million more things that are more offensive to Islamic culture than a sports team using the crescent and the star.
I've just done some Turkish language googling about Saracens and there are no negative comments that I could find. I did find that there is a Sunday League football team set up by Turkish-Cypriots called London Saracens though.
Now I’m confused. So we should get offended on behalf of one group (Native Americans) for the misappropriation of their culture, heritage and imagery, but not another (Muslims)? Not quite sure how that works.
And I’m quite sure that sport team logos are not the absolute #1 priority for Native Americans either (compared to, say, the theft and pollution of their land, rampant poverty and inequality, and systematic racial discrimination) but that doesn’t mean they can’t care about it too.
Pitfitter446 wrote:What next? C U Jimmy wigs banned?
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