Native American groups say the gesture is demeaning. In an email, Lapidus said about the chop, “As with all issues that understandably evoke strong emotions in today’s world, as an educator I encourage individuals to educate themselves on the topic to determine their personal position, with an emphasis on seeking out opinions, perspectives, and narratives different from their own and which challenge their assumptions and comfort.” He said he was not in a position to comment further.Ītlanta Braves fans do the tomahawk chop against the Chicago Cubs at Turner Field in 2013. Rabbi Micah Lapidus, director of Judaic studies at The Alfred & Adele Davis Academy, a Reform Jewish day school in Atlanta, has written a song honoring Braves legend Hank Aaron called “Keep Swinging.” Other rabbis the Forward contacted, describing themselves as avid baseball fans, did not defend it, but were not ready to cut ties with the tradition, either. I realize that makes me a racist - I realize that.”įeldman offered the only full-throated endorsement of the chop. “Everyone is trying to outdo each other to prove their nobility regarding racism. “I think it has more to do with rivalry than with some noble devotion to racism,” he said. What does Feldman make of these objections? In a statement this week the tribe said, “’This does not honor Cherokee traditions, nor do they honor our fellow tribes,” adding, “The 574 federally recognized Native American tribes are each distinct, sovereign governments with their own unique history, culture and language, and should be respected as such, not as stereotypes or mischaracterizations or derogatory terms.” The Cherokee Nation, the largest tribe in the United States, sees it differently. The tomahawk chop is a tradition many Atlanta Braves fans grew up with, and its defenders say there is no intent to offend. It’s saying ‘I want to be like a Brave.’”
“The whole point of the tomahawk Chop is that a Brave is a courageous warrior for a good cause,” Feldman said, “and therefore it’s honoring Braves, not dishonoring them. He said he would do the tomahawk chop “every time I have the chance.” Rabbi Ilan Feldman, head of Beth Jacob, an Orthodox synagogue in Atlanta, grew up listening to baseball games on a transistor radio and has been going to Braves games for decades. In a statement this week calling again for its ban, the head of the National Congress of American Indians labeled the chop “degrading.”īut many Braves fans remain fiercely protective of it, and in the most exciting sports moment in decades for the team, local Jewish leaders are among them.
#Braves tomahawk series#
Native American groups have been calling it demeaning almost from the moment it caught on in Atlanta, in 1991, when the team made the World Series and the franchise started selling foam tomahawks in the team store. The controversy surrounding the tomahawk Chop isn’t new. Baseball fans who defend the gesture see it as a way to generate crowd participation, intimidate the opponent and create a home-field advantage.
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