The Redskins name is racist.
In 1994, St. John’s changed its nickname from the Redmen
to the Red Storm. It struck me at the time because I never associated
Redmen with an offensive term. The team wore Red – many believed the nickname
Redmen was a literal interpretation of how the team looked when it played on
the road.
The timing was interesting since just two years’ prior, the
Redskins name controversy collided with the biggest sporting event on the planet
as protests dominated
Super Bowl coverage.
Of course, the protest was treated in the same way that
Christopher Nowinski’s landmark concussion findings were at a Super Bowl some
two decades later – with near indignation that a group would dare to sully the
great event known as the Super Bowl. The protests made an impact, if only as
the first wide scale salvo in the war against racist nicknames.
Soon after, the Redmen were no more. Later, the NCAA would
ban all racist nicknames from its members.
The Redskins name is racist.
This past Saturday morning, Lee Corso donned the mascot
attire of the Florida State Seminoles to make his weekly pick. He dressed in
the traditional Seminole war dress – Corso is an alum, by the way – as he
correctly picked Florida State to win that night’s game against Clemson.
Because this is the Internet and we live in 2013, it made
for a nice straw man argument. The Atlantic went as far as to call Corso’s
actions the “equivalent
of wearing black face.”
I cannot stress this enough – Lee Corso wearing that outfit
was not the equivalent of wearing black face. In fact, just making that leap is
dangerous. It is that type of rhetoric that destroys rational debates.
The Seminole tribe
likes having its name associated with Florida State University. They like
having their tribe treated with respect and honor by Florida State fans, alums
and players. It is a matter of pride that the fighting spirit of their tribe
has been deemed worthy to be used as the mascot for its state university.
The garb that Lee Corso donned on Saturday morning was what
Native Americans wore 100s of years ago.
When people wear lederhosen during Oktoberfest, is that the
equivalent of black face?
When people wear a sari, is that the equivalent of black
face?
Lee Corso was not racist. Lee Corso was wearing a
traditional headdress. It is not the Native American outfits – well, most of
them – that has people embroiled in fierce debate. It is the connotation. It is
the insults.
The Redskins name is racist.
Over the summer, the Washington Post released a poll that revealed
61 percent of Washingtonians liked the name. This, somehow, was treated as
a reason why the name should stay.
I don’t fault the fans of the teams – they have never associated
the name with an insult or a slur. They have associated Redskins with a
football team. When people say Redskins in this town, no one thinks about
racists, or Native Americans, or connotations – they think about the greatness
of RG3, why Mike
Shanahan should be fired and that terrible stadium that’s too far away.
That doesn’t make it right.
The Redskins name is racist.
The debate, like everything in this country, became highly
politicized when President Obama made his feelings known and Bob Costas took it
took another level with his highly
controversial essay during halftime of the Redskins/Cowboys game.
In fact, there was nothing controversial about it. Costas said
exactly what everyone knows about the team’s name.
The Redskins name is racist.
But the forum he chose – halftime of the most-watched
broadcast show in primetime – annoyed people that like their sports separated from
politics. Likewise, President Obama’s mention of the name during a government
shutdown annoyed people that like their politicians to stay away from sports.
The most intriguing and thought-provoking piece I’ve read on
the debate – far more than what you’re currently reading – came from a Native
American journalist, Tristan Ahtone. In
Acceptable Racial Slurs In Journalism (The Dreaded R-Word), he wrote:
“I'm reminded that in many ways the conversation surrounding
the R-word could be likened to the debate about the N-word. One could argue the
R-word isn't as hurtful as its black counterpart, however, it seems that even
when non-Native people are asked by Native people not to use it, they have no
problem with defending the use of word, and even yelling it to high heaven.
This reaction is very different what happens with the N-word. No one defends its use.
What's more depressing is the group injured by the use of
the word seems to have absolutely no voice or little credibility in the eyes of
those who defend the use of the term.
It's almost as if that group were not real people with real view points,
feelings or opinions.”
No voice.
Little credibility.
Not real people.
That’s how a Native
American summed up how the name debate – not even the name – made him feel. Why
is this even still a debate?
The Redskins name is racist. And it needs to go.
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