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Protesters at Super Bowl LVII Demand Kansas City Football Team Change its Name and more...


Photo: John McDonnell / The Washington Post/Getty Images file

In order to pressure the NFL to do away with racial mascots and iconography, protesters marched to State Farm Stadium, the location of Super Bowl LVII, demanding that the Chiefs and their "tomahawk chop" be removed. The event was attended by about 100 people, who chanted "Stop the Chop! Change the Name!" and "We're not caricatures, we're people."


Many of the protesters were Native Americans who endured jeers from passersby who imitated the "tomahawk chop." A Chiefs supporter was spotted at the Super Bowl wearing a copy of a headdress, despite the fact that the Chiefs forbade spectators from donning war paint and headdresses in 2020. Using Native American mascots and iconography is detrimental to Native people, according to the American Psychological Society.


Photo : Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Inquiries on the regulations governing fans wearing headdresses or war paint at the Super Bowl were not answered by the NFL or the Chiefs. Even though the Indigenous culture was represented at the Super Bowl, demonstrators continue to call for the NFL to compel teams to do away with racial mascots. The campaign to ban Native mascots is supported by prominent individuals like Suzan Shown Harjo and Amanda Blackhorse, who spearheaded the effort to dispute the use of the phrase "Redskin." The Chief's franchise profits from its Native reputation while refusing to interact with real Native people, according to a statement from the #NativeArtistsCoalition

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