Taking Sides on "Redskins"

[Matt Cotcher]

Taking Sides tackles the issue heating up in Washington D.C. What do you think?

 

[texasdobbs]

Although as cowboy fan I would think it would be funny that they would have to change there name... but as a matter of principal I think they should let it go and let them keep it.PC police...

 

[drgilbert]

My HS was the Donna Redskins. We had the same emblem on our helmet that Washington has on theirs. I don't think it is a racial slur and they should be allowed to keep their name.

 

[bcherry168]

I think the whole thing is silly. They have been the Redskins forever. Why is it just now that it is an issue? Would it be political?

 

[streettopeschel]

Political grandstanding. Until there's a groundswell of support for this by the people who are supposed to be offended, and not by a bunch of white-guilt do- gooders, I'm not overly concerned.

 

[BudreauReye]

This issue is a lot more complicated than just being the concern of "a bunch of white-guilt do- gooders".  This is an issue that needs to be discussed in depth.  I am part Seminole, but I have not ever lived a single day being identified as a Native American.  The term 'Redskin" does not offend me one whit.  However, if any minority members take issue with the use of what, in their judgement, could be considered pejorative names describing them, then I think that they should have their case heard in the court of public discourse.  I do know that there are other pejorative names for other minorities, that if those names were ever used for a sports team, there would be quite an uproar.  If you read the wiki article listed below, you will see that there are a lot of people who are concerned about this issue for a variety of reasons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Redskins_name_controversy

 

[Sirhornsalot]

IMO, this is but a symptom of what our society has receded to. Political correctness everywhere. It stinks.

For decades, perhaps close to 100 years, the name Redskins offended no one. Did logic change? Did meaning change? Well, no. People changed. That's why this is a farce.

The logic is here - the Redskins name was "earned" by reputation of the Indians as being fierce warriors and fighters. People all over the world recognized the bravery and skill of the American Indian warrior.

No one ever said the same thing about the white warrior, or the black warrior. So the whole comparison falls flat on it's face.

Keep the name. Let half of America grow a pair and get over it.

 

[monarch]

 ​

if it's offensive to the native american community... change the damn name!​

 

[drgilbert]

It seems like this man has no problem with redskin because he is Cherokee. Hell after too much time in the sun I am a redskin and I am not offended.

 

[streettopeschel]

Budreau since you clipped my 'do gooder' comment I'd respond of course it's more complicated than what can be done in the confines of a msg board discussion.

In simplest terms, IMO, if a sizeable number of Indian tribes or native Americans find it offensive, put economic pressure on the league and club to change it. That always works.

Until then this seems like a solution in search of a problem driven, yes, by white guilters.. Or at least by pols who'd rather go on TV talking about this rather than other problems

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Good discourse, fellas.

 

[BudreauReye]

Budreau since you clipped my 'do gooder' comment I'd respond of course it's more complicated than what can be done in the confines of a msg board discussion.

In simplest terms, IMO, if a sizeable number of Indian tribes or native Americans find it offensive, put economic pressure on the league and club to change it. That always works.

Until then this seems like a solution in search of a problem driven, yes, by white guilters.. Or at least by pols who'd rather go on TV talking about this rather than other problems

I think you know, street, that I am not taking issue with you personally, in fact I know that there are a lot of people, a lot of whom are actually "White", that like to place all the blame of all our ills on European-American culture.  Some of it is warranted, but nothing is a one way street (pardon the pun!)    And, actually, the only reason that some people thaing that some of it is warranted, is because European culture won the "War" of which culture was going to dominate the world, at least for a little while.  My point in attaching the wiki article is that it shows a very diverse grouping of organizations and individuals that are doing just what you are asking be done, putting pressure on the league and club to change it.  I don't know why, but this issue does not seem to get as much press in Texas as it does in the rest of the country.  Maybe that is because we do not have any tribal lands in Texas to speak of.  In fact, there is a groundswell of organizations, both Native American and otherwise, that are demanding this change, not just "white guilters".  Another issue is that Native American tribes are very diverse.  Aside from being Native American they are extremely culturally diverse.  They disagree on issues as much or more so than our greater American culture with all of our cultural, ethnic, and political diversity.

So, street, to you I say, to paraphrase Matt, Good discussion! 

 

[BudreauReye]

It seems like this man has no problem with redskin because he is Cherokee. Hell after too much time in the sun I am a redskin and I am not offended.

I am part Seminole, but mainly Scotts-Irish.  My skin turns red if I am out in the sun for too long also, but then again, I was pink to start with! 

Oh, and by the way, when I lived in Western North Carolina, Up in the mountains, I met some Cherokees that had hid out in the mountains when many Cherokees were removed from the area in the Removal Era and the Trail of Tears.  They had historically intermarried with Blacks and Whites and were known as the Brass Ankles locally, and as Melungeons on the other side of the mountains in Tennessee.  I have always wondered if those that remained considered those pejorative names.

 

[JimR]

Stupid PC

 

[Sirhornsalot]

In simplest terms, IMO, if a sizeable number of Indian tribes or native Americans find it offensive, put economic pressure on the league and club to change it. That always works.

Until then this seems like a solution in search of a problem driven, yes, by white guilters.. Or at least by pols who'd rather go on TV talking about this rather than other problems

Agree. However, poll after poll has been taken over the years and what we've learned is that roughly 10 percent of the Native Americans polled indicated they were offended by Redskins or athletic teams depicting their culture.

That means that 90 percent don't care one way or the other.

It seems that to some, that just means you keep throwing the issue out there until you get a different result. That's whats happening here. You hear more from whites and blacks than you ever will from the Native Americans on this.

If the name is changed, it's done for the sensitivities of liberal America, period.

 

[Lukus Alderman]

I'm not saying anyone on this board is like this, but it seems like some people with a platform just like to argue for the sake of arguing because it makes them feel important. The Redskins have been the name of that franchise for decades and it is just now becoming an issue?

 

[texasdobbs]

This is who I am, 1/8 Cherokee and im sure about 25 to 30 percent of Americans have some Indian blood in them. So i couldn't resist posting this song....

I'm an Indian outlaw

Half Cherokee and Choctaw

My baby she's a Chippewa

She's one of a kind

All my friends call me Bear Claw

The Village Cheaftin' is my paw-paw

He gets his orders from my maw-maw

She makes him walk the line

You can find me in my wigwam

I'll be beatin' on my tom-tom

Pull out the pipe and smoke you some

Hey and pass it around

'Cause I'm an Indian outlaw

Half Cherokee and Choctaw

My baby she's a Chippewa

She's one of a kind

I ain't lookin' for trouble

We can ride my pony double

Make your little heart bubble

Lord, Like a glass of wine

I remember the medicine man

He caught runnin' water in my hands

Drug me around by my headband

Said I wasn't her kind

Cause I'm an Indian outlaw

Half Cherokee and Choctaw

My baby she's a Chippewa

She's one of a kind

I can kill a deer or buffalo

With just my arrow and my hickory bow

>From a hundred yards don't you know

I do it all the time

They all gather 'round my teepee

Late at night tryin' to catch a peek at me

In nothin' but my buffalo briefs

I got 'em standin' in line

Cause I'm an Indian outlaw

Half Cherokee and Choctaw

My baby she's a Chippewa

She's one of a kind

Cherokee people

Cherokee tribe

So proud to live

So proud to die

 

[echeese]

In a month were we saw the Veteran Scandal FINALLY make front page news (the issue has been a problem for decades. . .W doubled the VA budget but warned Obama the problem was even bigger). . . we see our Senators wasting time not trying to fix the problem but pandering to the PC police. . . 

Really Sean .. . .thank you Senators?   For what. . . ignoring real problems in this nation to chase a red herring?  Wagging the dog I guess. . . .

PS, I should add. . .it was 49 not 50 senators and that list will be trimmed by 4-8 this Nov so the minority of PC knuckleheads will have a smaller voice .. . . 

 

[Matt Cotcher]

PS, I should add. . .it was 49 not 50 senators and that list will be trimmed by 4-8 this Nov so the minority of PC knuckleheads will have a smaller voice .. . . 

I'm aware that it was only 49. I used 50 because, "Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) sent along a separate letter, according to a press release."

Some curiosities inside the letter's signatures:

Neither Mark Warner nor Tim Kaine, both of Virginia, signed the letter. Virginia is Redskins country, home to many hard-core fans and the team's training facility, in Richmond.Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia also didn't sign. That state has many fans of Washington's football team, though the state also has many Pittsburgh Steelers fans, as well.

By contrast, Maryland's two senators, Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, signed the letter. A big part of their state is also Redskins country — and FedEx Field, the stadium where the team plays, is located there. But Maryland is also Ravens country, and both senators call Baltimore home. And it's a very blue state, which makes both senators among the least vulnerable in the Senate.