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FRAMING PSEUDO-INDIAN MASCOTS: THE CASE OF CLEVELAND

Jacobs, Michelle Renee
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1195261761

Abstract Details

2007, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology.
Members of American Indian communities and their allies nationwide struggle to eradicate stereotypical Native imagery in the form of pseudo-Indian athletic team mascots. This research investigates the claims-making activities of Northeast Ohio residents with regard to this issue. Northeast Ohio is home to the Cleveland “Indians” baseball franchise, which utilizes and profits from stereotypical Native imagery, and a small, non-profit, antiracist social movement organization named the Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance, which has been involved in protests against the baseball franchise’s “Indians” moniker and “Chief Wahoo” mascot since 1992. Thus, Cleveland, Ohio is a prime location for this study, which documents the salience of the pseudo-Indian mascot issue to residents of this region as well as the universe of frames used to “make meaning” of this issue in the Cleveland environment. I have conducted two separate analyses of the content of Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper articles published between 1992 and 2006 that refer to “Chief Wahoo” and/or the “Committee of 500 Years” in my effort to document the struggle over contested, socially constructed meanings of the franchise’s name and mascot. My findings include the overall lack of visibility of this issue in the Northeast Ohio region and the utilization of eighteen conceptual schemas to construct and define the social problem of pseudo-Indian mascots in the Cleveland area. A cross-tabulation and chi-square analysis of article “overtone” (i.e., “Pro-Wahoo” or “Anti-Wahoo”) by article theme reveals that proponents of the franchise’s “Indians” moniker and “Chief Wahoo” mascot are more likely to accentuate themes of importance, ownership, and power, while opponents are more likely to accentuate themes of harm, morality, and racism. I conclude with several suggestions for countering hegemonic conceptions of pseudo-Indian mascots.
Elaine Hall (Advisor)
124 p.
Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
Indian mascots; Racial inequalities; Framing; Content analysis

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Jacobs, M. R. (2007). FRAMING PSEUDO-INDIAN MASCOTS: THE CASE OF CLEVELAND [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1195261761

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Jacobs, Michelle. FRAMING PSEUDO-INDIAN MASCOTS: THE CASE OF CLEVELAND. 2007. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1195261761.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Jacobs, Michelle. "FRAMING PSEUDO-INDIAN MASCOTS: THE CASE OF CLEVELAND." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1195261761

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1195261761
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.