Chiefs fans wrong to use insensitive gestures

GLENDALE, Ariz. – About a halfhour before the Super Bowl 57 kickoff came the theme music, straight out of an Old West movie from the 1940s. And as the Kansas City Chiefs bolted out of the tunnel and onto the field at State Farm Stadium, they were greeted by arguably the most racist gesture demonstrated on the American sporting landscape: the tomahawk chop.

It was just like the scene at a Chiefs home game at Arrowhead Stadium.

Sadly, it was just as wrong and insensitive.

This isn’t a new point of contention. The appropriation of Native American culture has existed for decades, so ingrained in this nation’s psyche that even with the NFL’s franchise in Washington being renamed in 2022 as the “Commanders” and MLB’s franchise in Cleveland transitioning to “Guardians,” it obviously didn’t resonate to the chopping Chiefs fans that they were engaging in mass disrespect.

The Chiefs, and their fans, have typically tried to defend their practices – including the team’s name – as some form of honor for American Indians. Kind of like what Dan Snyder and the previous owners tried selling about the Washington franchise.

“There’s no pretty way to mascot people,” Amanda Blackhorse, a Native American activist and an organizer of a pregame protest rally, told USA TODAY Sports.

A few dozen protesters, many from Indian reservations in Arizona, came to express their displeasure with the continued use of the Chiefs name and the acceptance of the chopping gesture, hoping to generate attention on the issue.

Rhonda LeValdo came from Kansas City, where she heads the Not In Our Honor Coalition and works in conjunction with the Kansas City Indian Center. LeValdo said the Chiefs and team owner Clark Hunt have never engaged in serious dialogue with her group and that the team’s banning of face paint and headdresses at Arrowhead Stadium don’t nearly go far enough.

The rally on Sunday, which began with a march that drew a few hecklers wearing Chiefs paraphernalia, was an extension of the protests that LeValdo has organized for years before games at Arrowhead Stadium. “A lot of times when we’re out there protesting, people tell us to go home,” LeValdo told USA TODAY Sports. “We are home!”

Blackhorse and LeValdo were among panelists at a discussion Friday at the Indigenous Cultural Center at Scottsdale Community College, following the presentation of a documentary, “Imagining The Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting.”

Like others on the panel, they were passionate about their cause, sensing a need to educate the public at large about the history of Native Americans in this country and the lasting effects of systemic racism.

Blackhorse was a lead plaintiff in a landmark case against the Washington franchise that began in 2006, to have the team’s trademark removed on the grounds it was a dictionary-defined racial slur. After initially prevailing in court, the decision was reversed by a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Although Snyder had long pledged never to change the name, it was ultimately changed to Commanders due to pressure from sponsors rather than the legal challenges.

Activists haven’t reached the point of suing over the Chiefs name, but Blackhorse contends that it is just as offensive as Washington’s previous name.

“Absolutely,” Blackhorse said. “The R-word was a dictionary-defined racial slur. The Chiefs isn’t, but it’s in how you use it. If you’re calling any of these men in this room a chief, it would be insulting. It’s the way it’s being used.”

Blackhorse added that the term “chiefs” refers to the greatest Native American leaders, including Sitting Bull and Geronimo. “We fight for their dignity,” she said.

Several times during Super Bowl 57, Chiefs fans erupted in the “war chant” and chopped away – just like Atlanta Braves fans – in urging their team on.

The panelists acknowledged that although it is important to take a deep dive into the mascot issue – LeValdo pointed to scientific data that measures lower self-esteem and higher suicide rates as a residual effect – it is just one of many challenges facing the Native American population. The panelists mentioned poverty, healthcare, drug abuse, the sex trade and exploitation of casino dollars as others. On multiple occasions during the discussion, education was offered as a component of an action plan. The idea is that with an accurate history of the plight of Native Americans, there would be a better understanding and sensitivity.

Sure, that’s hope. In a polarized nation where critical race theory has exploded as an educational issue, good luck convincing all those Chiefs fans that they shouldn’t chop. Or should beat the drum. Or shouldn’t yell that offensive “war chant.”

Asked what she would say to Hunt about how, LeValdo had a pragmatic suggestion. “I’d tell him to gather the family for movie night and watch this documentary,” she said.

No, she wasn’t kidding. Let’s hope Hunt wouldn’t take it as a joke.