Prince Albert Raiders' new mascot causes stir

[spaminator]

Prince Albert Raiders' new mascot causes stir
Western Hockey League team unveils Boston the Arabian raider
QMI AGENCY
First posted: Thursday, November 20, 2014 01:01 PM EST | Updated: Thursday, November 20, 2014 03:25 PM EST
The Prince Albert (Sask.) Raiders are becoming junior hockey’s version of the Washington Redskins.
The Western Hockey League team is being bombarded with criticism after unveiling a new mascot that critics say is offensive to people of Middle Eastern descent.
The smiling, bearded mascot is fitted with a green Arabian keffiya – headwear popular to the region.
A spokesperson for the club said the new mascot is a tribute to the team’s original logo introduced in the early 1980s.
MORE: Flames' AHL team sorry for disturbing mascot
Back in 1982, the team’s logo featured an Arabian raider holding a sword and a hockey stick.
"The version that we brought to life is happy, with a big smile on his face," Raiders spokesperson Amber Pratt told the Canadian Press. "He wears hockey pants and a hockey jersey. He is a positive symbol of Raider history and was loved by fans when introduced on Friday night."
The mascot’s name is Boston thanks to a sponsorship deal with Boston Pizza.
Since Boston’s unveiling, multiple organizations have come out in opposition to the mascot -- including the Canadian Arab Federation. The outcry on social media has also been immense.
The NFL's Redskins are in a similar situation.
The embattled football team’s logo -- a Native American fitted with feathers -- is widely deemed to have racist undertones.
(Twitter)

Prince Albert Raiders' new mascot causes stir | HOCKEY | Hockey | Sports | Toron

 

[Praxius]

Odd, I was thinking their mascot was going to be a big pen!s with a piercing.

Pssh.... not living on the edge and pushing the limit enough people, c'mon!

 

[Cannuck]

Why isn't anybody complaining about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish?

 

[grainfedpraiboy]

In early 2000s a predominately native basketball team tried their hand at sarcasm and called their team the Fighting Whites who the media and others now call the Whities. The sarcasm backfired and they sold a gazillion T shirts and became hugely popular and have made so much money off merchandise they were able to set up scholarships and donate more than a 100K to a post secondary foundation.

I actually think this would be a better team name and mascot for a rebranding of the Atlanta Braves:

Anywho, if many sports teams were named after only European kings, warriors, tribes and clans you can be damned assured the debate we'd be having today is that minorities are being excluded.

 

[Blackleaf]

offensive to people of Middle Eastern descent.

Why?

Prince Albert Raiders