The snare drum kicks in with four loud pounds signaling a rising tension.
On the fifth beat of the drum, the brass section begins its duet with a thousand coordinated “Oooh-oooh, oooh-ooh, oooh-oooh” cries, pumping up the athletes in a Native American-esque chant.
I will be the first to admit, the sports’ war chant also known as the tomahawk chop sucked me in as a child.
The synergy of adults screaming at the top of their lungs and bending their elbows ferociously always seemed like a fun time when I saw it on TV, but despite the mindless unison of the crowd, the chop needs to go.
The war chant has been popularized by major sports teams including the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Braves, but the creation started off at the amateur level by Florida State University.
Dale Lick, former FSU president from 1991-94, said that the school had worked closely with the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida for approval of the use of the mascot and native symbols.
“Over the years we have worked closely with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to ensure the dignity and propriety of the various symbols we use,” Lick said in University of Washington professor C. Richard King’s book “Beyond the Cheers: Race as spectacle in college sport.”
Despite the approval from native tribes for other native-esque looks, the band took it upon themselves without the approval of anyone to commence using the chant.
The band was tone-deaf to what the ramifications would be by using something so simple without permission.
Lick said the school had no hand in the creation of the chop when the band first used it in 1980 and that it’s ubiquitous use was out of the administration’s control.
“Who knew that a few years later the gesture would be picked up by other team’s fans and named the tomahawk chop?” Lick said. “It’s a term we did not choose and officially do not use.”
Despite the school not choosing the chop to become popular, it spread faster than the diseases that unintentionally killed the natives themselves.
The comparison is hyperbolic, yes, but the point is neither should’ve occurred in the first place.
In 1991, the Atlanta Braves made the chop the official chant for the team and every Braves playoff game would give out foam tomahawks for fans to swing.
The chop was canceled after Cardinals pitcher Ryan Helsley said, “I think it’s a misrepresentation of the Cherokee people or Native Americans in general. It just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type-people way who aren’t intellectual.”
Although the removal of the chop was a breath of fresh air for some, others felt an angry void left in their hearts.
Georgia Republican House of Representatives member Trey Kelley live tweeted throughout the game saying that the Cardinals getting blown out 13-1 was a chop to the face.
“This. Is. Painful. Have to feel this is karma for the unjustified and rash decision to do away with foam tomahawks,” Kelley tweeted.
The idea that a lack of ignorant yelling and waving of foam sticks caused the Braves to lose is ridiculous.
Kelley seems to be in the minority of this decision, with other Native American-rooted teams changing their deemed racist symbols.
Heading into the 2019 season, the Cleveland Indians removed Chief Wahoo from jerseys and as the team’s mascot after almost 60 years of his red-faced reign in Ohio.
The removal of the chop and Chief Wahoo are large steps for these racism-stained teams to slowly fade away, but there are plenty of native inspired teams to go.
Until then, Braves fans will have to think of some other noise to yell as American sports start taking racial insensitivity more seriously.
