So, with no hysteria, name-calling or yelling, I'm going to try to explain why the chop and chant are racist and fans should not continue it. My hope is to have just ONE Atlanta fan in the comments go, "You know, if you put it that way..." 1/8
....The chop and chant are insensitive because they perpetuate stereotypes that most of us and our parents and grandparents all saw depicted in TV and in the movies, depicting Native Americans as war-mongering heathens who speak English in a stilted way and just want to ... 2/8
.... scalp us. The chop perpetuates the violent part of that, and folks need to understand that Native Americans have a rich history of music-making that includes chants, some of which are rooted in prayer, many in historical story-telling. In part, the #braves chant mocks... 3/8
... religion. In concert with the team name and the tomahawk and ugly stereotypical depiction of a Native American man that once comprised their logo, the chant and chop represent one more way that we treat ... 4/8
.... Native Americans as something less than we are. It's no different than depicting Mexicans in a "Mel Blanc" way, sitting on the ground, having a siesta, head hidden in an oversized sombrero; or African Americans as submissive "yes'm" characters. I had one person today .. 5/8
... tell me that the chop is no different than idealizing Spartans and Pirates and the like, who also were warlike. There's a huge difference. The United States was not built on the subjugation of ancient Sparta and Jean Lafitte. But our history is a history of killing ... 6/8
.... Native Americans, taking their land, breaking countless treaties and every other awful thing we Europeans did to overtake their homeland. Here's what I wish: I wish the team and the players would take a stand. Have key players take the field before next year's ... 7/8
... season opener and ask the fans -- not order them -- to stop the chop. Then play the video before every home game. Some people will never get it. But I actually believe over time most will, even in a place like Georgia.

8/8

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More from @hankschulman

30 Oct
Just finished watching @KenBurns remarkable documentary on Muhammad Ali. This photo is from 2010 in the #SFGiants' spring training clubhouse. I'm obviously honored to be in the photo, although I was troubled at the time because he had just taken so many pictures with players.... Image
... Bochy, staff, etc... and he seemed tired. He toured the Cactus League getting players to sign up for Athletes for Hope and commit to community service. He couldn't speak by then, or barely did. So many players wanted Ali to shake a fist at them for their photos, and he ...
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30 May
The ridiculous cost of commercial real estate, for one. I'd have to think #athletics and the city could woo companies to build there. Need for more affordable housing, and @mlb now sees how teams can generate revenue with dining/drinking/entertainment venues in the ...
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30 May
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Dr. Sarah Cody prevented more COVID deaths in the United States than any single individual and her reward has been death threats and idiotic comments from people like this. We really do live in the Dumbest Country on Earth™️. Get your priorities straight.
Dr. Cody’s job is not to worry about your precious baby’s completion percentage. San Jose St.’s football team spat in her face and violated the health orders right and left ahead of its bowl game. The results? A COVID outbreak among coaches and players.
And don’t get me started on those Calvary Church assholes. I wish Jesus would return now for Sermon on the Mount II and tell all these churches, “Hey, morons. Did I cure lepers and comfort the afflicted? Or did I say, “Make more people get sick and die in my name?”
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8 Jan
Every protagonist needs an antagonist, every cheering fan someone to boo. Speaking from a San Francisco perspective, I submit that Tommy Lasorda was a perfect foil, and not because he was a bad guy. Quite the opposite, as a man who began his #dodgers career in Brooklyn ....
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21 Dec 20
So a week ago, my mom needed to be rushed by ambulance to the ER. She’s 88 and lives in LA County. I won’t bury the lede. She was diagnosed with an infection in sent home so she wasn’t going to need an ICU bed. But here’s how the night went. .... 1/x
.... The ambulance had to bypass the large hospital near my mother’s apartment because the ER was full. They took her to a more distant and much smaller hospital, which was also full. Because of Covid, my sister could not go into the ER area to comfort her and ask .... 2/x
.... the doctor questions. But that proved to be a moot point. The ER was so full of Covid patients, my mom had to be triaged, have blood and urine drawn, and wait for a doctor for several hours WHILE LYING IN THE AMBULANCE. No heat, and no matter how many blankets they ... 3/x
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