ARCHIVE: On the Washington Redskins
Originally published on Facebook, June 18th 2014.
UGH the Washington Redskins having to change their name is just another example of hypersensitive people obsessed with political correctness making up excuses to be offended by every single little thing. It's a football team for goodness sake and my one-eighth-Cherokee friend said it wasn't offensive so clearly this is all being blown out of proportion and I'm so done with pesky feeble-hearted liberals taking offense to everything. Right, everyone??
No. Oh no. Wrong. Oh so very wrong.
While former Redskins owner Jack Cooke said that the name stands for "bravery, courage, and a stalwart spirit", the truth is that this term has almost always been used in a derogatory manner. The few times it may have been used as a compliment are still heavily outweighed by how often it's used as an epithet that stereotypes an entire race of people. Simply put, it's a slur. Perhaps within the Native American community it is acceptable, but to a country made up of the people who have systematically eradicated this group, its usage is grossly inappropriate. And it's sad how desensitized we are to the blatant disrespect that this name perpetuates.
This mascot stereotypes, caricatures, belittles, and disparages a wide culture of vastly diverse and vibrant people. It's not an example of the "language police"- it's actually a pejorative term. The team is clever about publicizing the handful of tribal leaders who seem to embrace and appreciate the name while conveniently neglecting the hoards of people who stand against it. The surveys that poll (supposedly) Native Americans on this issue and conclude that most of them don't care- they're riddled with inconsistencies and scientifically flawed methods and analyses. And even if most Native Americans are ambivalent, there is always a strong minority of people who do take explicit offense to the use of this name. Just because someone is in the minority doesn't mean it's okay to offend them. And just because Dan Synder says that the team means no offense by refusing to change their name doesn't mean it's automatically not-offensive.
Robert Harding of The Citizen said it well: "Some might call it political correctness. But I call it respect. Let's avoid racist and sexist jokes. Let's not bully or harass the vulnerable. Let's not use hateful language that might not be offensive to most, but hurts some."
See, it's not okay for someone to say that something is not offensive to someone else or that someone shouldn't be offended. No one gets to choose that for another person. It's even less okay if the people who are trying to quiet the offended Americans haven't lived their life with the same racism and ignorance and pain this minority stands up to each day. And it's horrible when these oppressive bullies are the very ones who have egregiously profited off of Native Americans hundreds of years ago by stealing their resources, their land, and their way of life, and are the ones who continue to profit off them with their mascot today. I'd be surprised if the owners and supporters of this team have even made a donation to a Native American interest organization out of the millions of dollars their team brings in each year.
Yes, this is just a football team. Just a football team that represents an entire city of people- one of thirty-two that represent America as a whole. The widespread usage of this term and its subsequent resistance to change are an appalling monument to ignorance and racism in this country. And football is supposed to be fun- it shouldn't be an agent of oppression. This is all just one tiny piece of a puzzle that continues to suppress millions of this country's oldest members. We turn a blind eye to what mainstream America has done to the hundreds of tribes in the past, and by continuing to use a name like this and perpetuating the sentiments that it represents, we're repeating history.
I'm elated to hear that they lost trademark rights and some of their legal protection. Hopefully this will bring the change that millions are counting on. I realize that many of you probably didn't have an opinion on this matter, but I hope that you do now. And I hope that you share it because knowledge is one of the most powerful tools of change, one of the most indelible weapons against oppression.
(Plus, isn't this an exciting opportunity?? Imagine all the fun new names out there... The Washington Ponies? The Washington Unicorns? The Washington Potatoes??)
UGH the Washington Redskins having to change their name is just another example of hypersensitive people obsessed with political correctness making up excuses to be offended by every single little thing. It's a football team for goodness sake and my one-eighth-Cherokee friend said it wasn't offensive so clearly this is all being blown out of proportion and I'm so done with pesky feeble-hearted liberals taking offense to everything. Right, everyone??
No. Oh no. Wrong. Oh so very wrong.
While former Redskins owner Jack Cooke said that the name stands for "bravery, courage, and a stalwart spirit", the truth is that this term has almost always been used in a derogatory manner. The few times it may have been used as a compliment are still heavily outweighed by how often it's used as an epithet that stereotypes an entire race of people. Simply put, it's a slur. Perhaps within the Native American community it is acceptable, but to a country made up of the people who have systematically eradicated this group, its usage is grossly inappropriate. And it's sad how desensitized we are to the blatant disrespect that this name perpetuates.
This mascot stereotypes, caricatures, belittles, and disparages a wide culture of vastly diverse and vibrant people. It's not an example of the "language police"- it's actually a pejorative term. The team is clever about publicizing the handful of tribal leaders who seem to embrace and appreciate the name while conveniently neglecting the hoards of people who stand against it. The surveys that poll (supposedly) Native Americans on this issue and conclude that most of them don't care- they're riddled with inconsistencies and scientifically flawed methods and analyses. And even if most Native Americans are ambivalent, there is always a strong minority of people who do take explicit offense to the use of this name. Just because someone is in the minority doesn't mean it's okay to offend them. And just because Dan Synder says that the team means no offense by refusing to change their name doesn't mean it's automatically not-offensive.
Robert Harding of The Citizen said it well: "Some might call it political correctness. But I call it respect. Let's avoid racist and sexist jokes. Let's not bully or harass the vulnerable. Let's not use hateful language that might not be offensive to most, but hurts some."
See, it's not okay for someone to say that something is not offensive to someone else or that someone shouldn't be offended. No one gets to choose that for another person. It's even less okay if the people who are trying to quiet the offended Americans haven't lived their life with the same racism and ignorance and pain this minority stands up to each day. And it's horrible when these oppressive bullies are the very ones who have egregiously profited off of Native Americans hundreds of years ago by stealing their resources, their land, and their way of life, and are the ones who continue to profit off them with their mascot today. I'd be surprised if the owners and supporters of this team have even made a donation to a Native American interest organization out of the millions of dollars their team brings in each year.
Yes, this is just a football team. Just a football team that represents an entire city of people- one of thirty-two that represent America as a whole. The widespread usage of this term and its subsequent resistance to change are an appalling monument to ignorance and racism in this country. And football is supposed to be fun- it shouldn't be an agent of oppression. This is all just one tiny piece of a puzzle that continues to suppress millions of this country's oldest members. We turn a blind eye to what mainstream America has done to the hundreds of tribes in the past, and by continuing to use a name like this and perpetuating the sentiments that it represents, we're repeating history.
I'm elated to hear that they lost trademark rights and some of their legal protection. Hopefully this will bring the change that millions are counting on. I realize that many of you probably didn't have an opinion on this matter, but I hope that you do now. And I hope that you share it because knowledge is one of the most powerful tools of change, one of the most indelible weapons against oppression.
(Plus, isn't this an exciting opportunity?? Imagine all the fun new names out there... The Washington Ponies? The Washington Unicorns? The Washington Potatoes??)
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