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Kathy Griffin, caused a stir this past week with a photograph of her holding a bloody depiction of Trump’s severed head. Many have reacted, taking great offense – but where is that sentiment when similar acts happen daily in American athletics?
“People are appalled that Kathy Griffin posted a photo of a faux decapitated Trump — but we see ‘decapitated’ Indians all the time,” wrote journalist Amanda Blackhorse in her recent piece on Indian Country Today Media Network. Blackhorse, Navajo, is known for her participation in a lawsuit against the Washington football team for its use of a Native American mascot and a racial slur as its team name.
Blackhorse reflects on the quick reactions Americans took to Griffin’s picture, saying “when I see Kathy Griffin holding the head of Trump, I think of one vile picture in particular… The image of decapitated head of a Native. It seems that if you hold the bloody head of a Native (with a knife stuck in it at that), it’s called ‘fun and games’ or ‘clever sportsmanship,’ but when you hold the bloody head of Trump, it’s foul, vile, disgusting, and it ‘goes far’.”
Blackhorse raises some important questions about American mentality towards Native people and their perspectives on what is acceptable and what isn’t it. Griffin has lost work and had to apologize profusely for her action. However, does her political statement against one leader really constitute as a violation of Freedom of Speech when an entire race of marginalized Americans are dehumanized by sports fans on daily basis?
Thank you, Amanda, for your article on the twisted priorities of our country and for resurfacing this image of how American sports perpetuate unacceptable violence against Native Americans.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images
That decapitated Indian head was a unexpected occurrence held by a ‘eagles fan’, not the team themselves. You can bet if anyone on the eagles team themselves did that it would have had more waaay more talk. Hate groups and racist doing things like this is shocking, but not surprising. Kathy, a celebrity, someone with a wide influence should have known better to plan a photo shoot to hold up the decapitated head of the US leader like a member of isis and not expect a bigger audience to be disgusted and lack the humor she was trying to incite… Read more »
I thought it was amusing because it was clearly a joke.
Huh. Clearly a joke? When millions don’t get the unchained then it’s not a joke.