By looking at the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media's (NCRSM) visual text, we can see the effects that stereotyping a mascot can have on a race.  This is important because an idea that was meant to be harmless became controversial and was labeled as racist.  The side by side comparison of a Native American man and the Cleveland Indian's mascot shows the stereotyped ideas that many American's have heard and believed.  The use of this stereotyped image as a Major League Baseball team's mascot promotes this stereotype and makes it more well-known throughout the population.  The NCRSM's goal in creating this visual text was to make people who are not Native Americans realize that this well-known mascot is a racist figure that misrepresents the whole Native American race.

In order to get a full understanding of this visual text, we must first look at each individual image on its own and then develop a meaning by putting the two images together and looking at the picture as a whole.  The image on the left is an actual picture of a Native American man who is dressed in traditional clothes.  In the blank space above the man, we see the words "Dignified", "Honorable", and "Respectable".  The use of these powerful words appearing within the same image of a traditional Native American man helps us to realize that this is the way in which we should view Native Americans.  Culture is very important to their lives, especially after being forced to give up their land when we decided to colonize in North America.  The purpose of this first image in this visual text is to give an accurate representation of what a Native American looks like and how they should be viewed.

The image on the right of this visual text is the mascot of the Major League Baseball team, the Cleveland Indians.  Above the mascot in this picture, we can read the words "Disgraceful", "Shameful", and "Racist".  To the Native American race, this mascot that is seen by millions of people each year is very disrespectful.  Native Americans see this as disgraceful because it promotes false stereotypes about who they are and their ancestors.  It is shameful because it offends their culture and turns beliefs and practices into stereotyped images.  Most of all, this image is racist because it promotes the idea that all Native Americans can be identified by the way they look, dress, and the color of their skin.  By looking closely at the Cleveland Indians mascot, there are many features that can be thought of as racist.  The fact that the skin and background are red implies that all Native Americans are redskins and can be identified by this external feature.  Additionally, the Native American mascot has a feather in his hair.  This implies the stereotype that all Indians have feathers in their hair.  Instead of informing people about the significance of the feather or what it means within their culture, the mascot simply has a feather in his hair and is left open for interpretation.  By looking only at the picture on the right of the Cleveland Indians mascot, we can see why the stereotyped image is considered racist to those of Native American decent.

Looking at the visual text as a whole, we can see that the two images are contrasting and are completely opposite viewpoints a person could have when looking at a Native American.  The image on the left is a realistic representation of an Indian while the picture on the right is the stereotyped and racist version of the Native American race.  The next step in developing the meaning of the visual text as a whole is to combine the two images and see where they overlap.  Both pictures are places inside of a larger box with the question, "Where is the honor?" at the bottom.  The key word in this question is honor.  The NCRSM made the word stand out by italicizing it.  Honor is the thing that fills the gap between the two pictures and separates how we view the picture as a whole.  Initially, making a Native American man the mascot of Cleveland's Major League Baseball team was supposed to be out of respect to remember that Indians were living here way before us.  However, the lack of honor and respect when creating the mascot for the team caused an opposite reaction from the Native American community.  There is no honor in the image on the right because it does not respect the beliefs and practices of the Native American culture.  For this reason, an Indian man dressed in his traditional clothes to show where he came from turned into a stereotypical, cartoon-like, and racist mascot.  If done correctly, having the Indians as a professional baseball team's mascot would be a great honor.  Unfortunately, the mascot ended up being offensive due to the exaggerated physical features and ignored culture of the Native Americans.  The combination of the two pictures and the addition of the text at the bottom gives the viewer a different perspective when approaching the visual text's meaning.

This visual text created by the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media is meant to show how a seemingly good action, such as making an Indian the mascot of your MLB team, can have an opposite effect if done without honor and respect.  After looking at each of the two pictures individually and comparing the images and the text that goes along with it, we see two completely different viewpoints.  The real picture of an Indian on the left makes the cartoon mascot on the right seem completely racist.  Additionally, the words "Dignified", "Honorable", and "Respectable" are opposites of "Disgraceful", "Shameful", and "Racist".  This explains why the text used to write the words is different.  The font used in the right image is used in caution and warning signs.  Putting the images together into one visual text makes us see the importance of honor and the difference it could have made when creating the Cleveland Indians mascot.

