Yes, I know that most of you probably don’t care about baseball and definitly don’t care for ESPN. But I grew up ten miles from Dodgers Stadium, collecting baseball cards of all my favorites; Garvey, Cey, Lopes, Baker, Smith, Russell, Yeager. Those were great times. Then I grew to appreciate football much more but since the NFL turned anti-America, I shut that down and now care even more about baseball. This leads me, on occassion, to ESPN (even though I despise it) so I can read about my Dodgers. In doing so today, I stumbled upon this bit of butt-hurt uber-sensitivity from a Native American MLB player.
Braves take Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley’s concerns about tomahawk chop chant ‘seriously’
ST. LOUIS — The Atlanta Braves are promising to continue their dialogue with the Native American community in the wake of St. Louis Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley’s criticism of the tomahawk chop chant.
Helsley told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he thinks the chant is insulting, and the 25-year-old rookie was disappointed when it was heard during Game 1 of the National League Division Series in Atlanta.
Don’t know what that is? Take a listen:
Wow. I’m tho thuper-offended.
Helsley is a member of the Cherokee Nation. The Tahlequah, Oklahoma, native speaks the Cherokee language and is one of only a few Native Americans in the majors.
Looks to be about as much Native American as Elizabeth Warren, but whatever.
The Braves say they “appreciate and take seriously” Helsley’s concerns. The team says it has “worked to honor and respect the Native American community through the years.”
“Our organization has sought to embrace all people and highlight the many cultures in Braves Country,” the team said Saturday in a statement. “We will continue to evaluate how we activate elements of our brand, as well as the in-game experience, and look forward to a continued dialogue with those in the Native American community once the season comes to an end.”
Hearing the chant by the fans, a part of the Braves’ tradition since it was borrowed from Florida State in the early 1990s, was a shock for Helsley.
Shocked? Helsley was born in 1994 and this has been going on since the early 1990s. Certainly someone who “grew up” (although he apparently has not really grown up) to be a professional baseball player has watched a game or two during his lifetime. Almost certainly he’s seen a Braves game before. How the fuck can he be shocked?
Helsley told the Post-Dispatch he was insulted by what he saw and heard in Thursday’s series opener.
“I think it’s a misrepresentation of the Cherokee people or Native Americans in general,” Helsley said before the Braves’ 3-0 victory in Friday’s Game 2.
Why? Were the a bunch of pussies? I think not.
“Just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren’t intellectual. They are a lot more than that. It’s not me being offended by the whole mascot thing. It’s not. It’s about the misconception of us, the Native Americans, and how we’re perceived in that way, or used as mascots. The [Washington] Redskins and stuff like that.”
He says he’s not offended by the “mascot thing” but then continues on to say he IS offended by it, then specifically singles out the Washington Redskins. Make up your mind, rookie. You just contradicted yourself.
And no, this tomahawk chop thing doesn’t depict them as cavemen. Just as the name “Braves” does, It depicts them as fierce warriors when the times called upon them to act as such. That’s not disrespect in my book. That’s honor.
You don’t hear white people (although he really seems to be one) bitching about the Vikings, the Pirates, the Trojans, or the Fighting Irish, do you? To listen to this guy, all of those could be considered “cavemen-type people who aren’t intellectual.” They were warriors. It’s sports. That’s a competition, so of course teams will pick fierce names. It doesn’t also mean these people weren’t intelligent. Native Americans could not have lasted as long as they did against the overwhelming might of the U.S. military if they were not both courageous and intelligent.
Get over yourself you millennial snowflake and grow the fuck up. No one is insulting your people except maybe YOU by denying them the fact that they were/are indeed, brave.
