Some time ago there was an outrage over the name of an NFL team, the Washington Redskins. According to the opposition, the name had a racist component to it--'Redskins’ denoting Native American people. This sparked the examination of other long-standing, culturally insensitive mascots across the nation, from mascots in the likeness of Confederate officers to more insensitive depictions of Native Americans. However there is one commonly used mascot that deserves the spotlight of condemnation, a mascot who didn’t get the negative attention it deserved, and that is the commonly used mascot depiction of a ‘Crusader.’ The mascots in question can range from any educational level. In other words, any educational institution which uses the Crusader as their mascot from university to grade school levels.
Mascots are what children and adults look up to for qualities that resemble something they would like to see in themselves or in their school’s competitive programs. The fierceness and majesty of a lion, the swiftness and finesse of a leopard and the power and might of a bear are all just some examples of qualities that are wanted in competitive teams and are all examples of wholesome mascots. Concerning the mascot of a Crusader, however, things start to turn less wholesome.
The crimes of the Crusaders are a historical fact. It’s not something which historians debate. The injustices committed by the Crusaders against innocent people for no moral reason are well documented and well sourced. Some of these injustices include massacres of Jewish communities in the Rhineland before ever even reaching the Middle East. These massacres were so prevalent and so destructive that the Jewish people have elected to include in their liturgy a poem that bewails the tragedy and the suffering the Crusaders imposed upon them. The chorus from the liturgical poem reads: “On the House of Israel and the Nation of God who fell by the sword.” This line is said once a year by Jews everywhere, describing the brutality of the Crusaders. This brutality has entered into the Jewish consciousness and will forever remain as a dark part in their history.
Once the Crusaders did finally get to the Middle East, the brutality and barbarity didn’t stop. The Muslim civilians who were around during the first Siege of Jerusalem were slaughtered en masse. These were innocent men, women and children who took no part in the armed battle against the invading Crusaders. Additionally, during the siege of Jerusalem the crusading armies decided to round up all the Jews into the synagogue and burn them alive. According to historical accounts they danced as the synagogue and people inside went up in flames.
The moral indictment against the Crusaders goes on believing that they would receive penance for going on a Crusade they committed, since the crusade absolved them from divine retribution. Invading foreign lands multiple times in the name of religion is evil. It is general cruelty towards their fellow man and much more. All in all, not exactly the group of people you want to be emulating on the sports field or in an academic decathlon. Also, in the more than ten crusades that there were, only one of them was successful, so they’re not even quality role models for success. Barbarity maybe. Success? Not even a little.
Mascots can often be inspiring role models for both children and adults. They can invoke feelings of pride and power in the spectators while also instilling a sense of purpose into the team they represent. However, the danger here is that mascots who have historically represented murderers and bigots like the Crusaders sends a far greater message to the people who are not on the same side as the mascot. With the use of the Crusader as the mascot, the people who are opposing the team are faced with a reminder of all that the Crusader represents--brutality, bigotry, hypocrisy, xenophobia, and more. Why would any educational institution want to send this message at their sporting events? And more, perhaps most importantly, why do parents still allow their children to be represented by this mascot of hate? Something should be done about these mascots around the nation. It’s time for the informed masses to take up their own ‘Crusade.’
