• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Anti-Redskins ad airing during NBA Finals[W:125]

Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

I'm offended by the 49ers, it gives the impression that people from San Fransisco are all greedy prospectors. I'm offended by the Raiders, Oakland may be a slum filled with crime but calling them Raiders perpetuates the cycle and encourages theft and murder. Don't even get me started on the chiefs.

Free speech, let them air a commercial. I'm free to mock it. I can't help but think much of the time people want to be "offended" and force change as a means of exerting power. I'm from DC, I'm part Native American and I grew up rooting for the Redskins. I'm not offended at all and I don't think the Redskins should change their name.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

[h=1]Anti-Redskins commercial to air during NBA Finals[/h] Posted by Michael David Smith on June 10, 2014, 9:00 AM EDT
71238a123a75412059d199554f6e833a.jpg
Getty ImagesOpponents of the name of the Washington Redskins will air their message before a large audience of sports fans tonight.
The Washington Post reports that the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, a tribe based in California, has paid for a 60-second anti-Redskins commercial to run during halftime of tonight’s NBA Finals game. The ad will run in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco and Washington, and the tribe said it made a “significant investment” to purchase the air time.
The commercial begins with a long montage of names and labels that Native Americans call themselves, like “proud” and “forgotten,” “Navajo” and “Blackfoot,” “patriot” and “soldier,” “Jim Thorpe” and “Billy Mills.” It ends with the narrator saying, “Native Americans call themselves many things. The one thing they don’t” and then an image of a Redskins helmet.
A longer version of the ad was posted on YouTube just before the Super Bowl and has been viewed nearly 2 million times.


For more go the changethemascot.org

Meh, I don't really care one way or the other on this one.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

They've been called the Redskins for what, 77 years? Why now, within the last year, has it become such an issue? Why not when they were winning Super Bowl championships?
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

It's a slur.

Even if it was a positive generalization (as some claim) that is still harmful to society as it perpetuates a stereotype at the expense of non-militant Native Americans in portraying them, as a whole, as warmongers.

But stereotypes are not necessarily racist. Racism requires that the racist considers himself superior by virtue of his race. When we use the term redskin are we claiming that white people are superior? 150 years ago? Probably. Today. I'm not so sure.

Honestly there are alot more important things to worry about.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

But stereotypes are not necessarily racist.

Of course they are. They serve majority power dominance.

Racism is not as much about perceived superiority as systemic privilege. It's a social construct, and thereby not equal to individual actions. Bigotry is an individual action, but for it to be racism (or sexism) requires societal backing.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

This is the same, "in yer face", stupidity as totin' rifles in a shopping mall to protest anti-gun laws.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

The funny thing about that commercial is that "Redskin" was the the term used by native Americans to describe themselves, in the same way they called Europeans "white man".

So the commercial is really just lying to you.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

It's about time. People need to grow up and stop supporting racial slurs as "tradition".

Where in the history of that team can you tell me that "Redskins" was ever meant to be racist?
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

[h=1]Anti-Redskins commercial to air during NBA Finals[/h] Posted by Michael David Smith on June 10, 2014, 9:00 AM EDT
71238a123a75412059d199554f6e833a.jpg
Getty ImagesOpponents of the name of the Washington Redskins will air their message before a large audience of sports fans tonight.
The Washington Post reports that the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, a tribe based in California, has paid for a 60-second anti-Redskins commercial to run during halftime of tonight’s NBA Finals game. The ad will run in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco and Washington, and the tribe said it made a “significant investment” to purchase the air time.
The commercial begins with a long montage of names and labels that Native Americans call themselves, like “proud” and “forgotten,” “Navajo” and “Blackfoot,” “patriot” and “soldier,” “Jim Thorpe” and “Billy Mills.” It ends with the narrator saying, “Native Americans call themselves many things. The one thing they don’t” and then an image of a Redskins helmet.
A longer version of the ad was posted on YouTube just before the Super Bowl and has been viewed nearly 2 million times.


For more go the changethemascot.org
When they change all the other teams with Indian names, then I'll give a **** about this stupidity.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

But stereotypes are not necessarily racist. Racism requires that the racist considers himself superior by virtue of his race. When we use the term redskin are we claiming that white people are superior? 150 years ago? Probably. Today. I'm not so sure.

Honestly there are alot more important things to worry about.
Save yourself the effort, Eco is a racist victim pusher, you'll only go in semantic circles discussing the subject with him.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

Where in the history of that team can you tell me that "Redskins" was ever meant to be racist?

Where is that disconnect, anyone? I'm guessing no consideration of social. Probably defines racism individually, equating it with bigotry.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

I wonder how white people would feel if the U.S. was dominated by Native Americans who conquered them a few hundred years ago and had team names like the "Alabama Pasties", "North Carolina Crackers", "Mississippi White Trash".

I used to live near a major reservation and knew many natives very well as I worked and drank with them after work. They largely feel humiliated and have quite a bit of resentment. Their reservations are horridly poor, alcoholism runs rampant, assault, rape, its terrible. They are a very defeated people overall and so little things can cut pretty hard.

Most of them have not adapted to western life very well, so if a lot of them feel upset about this I understand. If they want the name changed then so be it.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

Where is that disconnect, anyone? I'm guessing no consideration of social. Probably defines racism individually, equating it with bigotry.

And socially the Redskins in this context has no racism attached to it. If it did then you would have been able to point it out instead of trying to avoid my question. The only ones trying to attach racism to it are those that go around a LOOK for something to be offended about. Usually those people are ignorant as to the historical context of said word in said environment.

Like it or not, not all slur words are used in a slur context. Whenever such crap such as what is being talked about in this thread I can't help but think of this...

 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

And socially the Redskins in this context has no racism attached to it.

False, greater context. Like a black person being unable to escape racial injustice and a white can, the term cannot escape injustice inhereted from the higher context (in the case of racism, societal).

And a youtube video? Good day.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

I was referring to the commercial that is just some butthurt tribe that needs something else to do.

Really? How about the Redskins change their name to the Washington Negroes, with emblems of Aunt Jemima on their helmets? You wouldn't think that's racist either? Because it's the same damn thing.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

Really? How about the Redskins change their name to the Washington Negroes, with emblems of Aunt Jemima on their helmets? You wouldn't think that's racist either? Because it's the same damn thing.

Hey! Black people make great pancakes with awesome syrup. We're just admiring their warrior spirit!
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

False, greater context. Like a black person being unable to escape racial injustice and a white can, the term cannot escape injustice inhereted from the higher context (in the case of racism, societal).

And a youtube video? Good day.

That youtube video was a perfect example of whats going on right now with this. People are reading more into it than is there. If we just cry racism every single time with out any consideration to context and just apply "greater context" like you want to do then there can't even be any discussion regarding racism. Am I a racist if I brought the word "nigger" into this conversation? No I'm not. Why? Because in the context that I am using it (an example) there is no racism context in my usage of the word. In otherwords your "greater context" that you are trying to apply here is nothing more than BS. A way to use the Race Card just to promote your own agenda. When in reality all it does is make people more immune and not give a crap about racial issues because every time you bring up non-valid racism charges people see it for what it is, BS. After awhile they will simply ignore any other calls of racism. And that will hurt your agenda far more than help anyone.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

Anti-Redskins commercial to air during NBA Finals

It would help a bit if their argument was actually correct, but it's not. But god forbid anyone actually honestly look at this issue instead of just fawn over it as a social crusade.

Contrary to their claims, Redskin is a name Native Americans use for themselves at times as well. It's origins stem from native americans using it as a means of differentiating between the native's (red skins) and settlers (white skins). A great number of native american schools on and off reservations across this country go by the moniker "Redskins". Considering they clearly demonstrated that historical instances (such as Red Cloud) as well as teams (by referencing the Washington Redskins) count as it relates to "calling" a name, then it's clear they're ad is just factually wrong; yes, native americans have and do to some degree refer to themselves as Redskins.

Has it, and can it, be used as a slur? Absolutely. Is its origins one of, or every use of it a case of, being a slur? Absolutely not.

What strikes me, however, is the use of nearly half a million dollars to run ad criticizing a name. It’s instances like this that makes it clear to me how much of a political and activist in nature agenda this is, as opposed to one actually concerned with the well-being of native americans in this country (then again, these folks misrepresent the vast majority of native americans at a drop of a hat, so why should I be surprised).

Half a million dollars for something that will have little to no impact on the lives of those living on reservations currently. Half a million dollars that goes to airing a grievance over a word as opposed to directly helping the horrendous conditions and situations facing many native americans in this country.

This would be like claiming you care about the homeless, and then spending half a million dollars to run an ad telling people to stop referring to disheveled people as looking “homeless” so as not to minimize the horrible situation some are going through….instead of, I don’t know, spending half a million dollars to provide actual shelter for the homeless.

Is there even a definitive consensus on this from the Native American community?

No. The only poll I've seen conducted on this matter showed that over 90% of the Native American community didn't feel football teams name needed to be changed.

It's a slur.

It can be used as a slur, it's singular meaning however is not a slur. In that specific fashion, it's similar to the term Yankee.

They've been called the Redskins for what, 77 years? Why now, within the last year, has it become such an issue? Why not when they were winning Super Bowl championships?

To be fair, it's been an issue for a while. I know at least from the 70's. The same general group of activist native american groups have been attacking it for some time. Throughout it, the vast majority of Native Americans range from not caring to actively supporting the use of the name...but naturally it's the squeeky wheel that gets the attention.

It's become a bigger issue in recent years because of a mix of:

1. The abundance of media available to us and the need to fill up space
2. The "thought bubble" effect in media, where an issue gets talked about in one place and then bounces around all the other facets of that type of media
3. A heightened sense of public unease over anything that even has the hint of potentially being "racist"
4. An owner who is an easy target and is generally disliked
5. The team re-entered into national relevance in 2012 (the year before this started getting big media attention again) with a division championship and a rookie of the year following a mega trade
6. The advent of "facebook activism" making it an easy thing for people who wouldn't take two steps towards actually legitimately helping to improve anyones lives to feel like they're "doing something"
7. An incredibly inept PR game plan on the part of the Redskins on how to deal with this issue

I wonder how white people would feel if the U.S. was dominated by Native Americans who conquered them a few hundred years ago and had team names like the "Alabama Pasties", "North Carolina Crackers", "Mississippi White Trash".

And so comes the standard erronious talking points.

Couple of issues.

First, Pasties, Crackers, and White Trash were never terms originally intended as neutral (at worst) or postive (at best) terms for the group in question.
Second, you don't provide nearly enough context to give an accurate answer. One would assume that a team would take a name that evokes positive emotions in it's fan base and connects the team with something in a positive rather than negative manner. While I can't possibly imagine how one can produce "white trash", a word that has zero historical connotation as a neutral or positive notion to any degree, could be used in such a way....if it WAS somehow able to be used as such then I'd likely not care. Especially if there were significanty more important issues facing my day to day life such as people being "horribly poor, alcoholism run[ning] rampant, assault, [and] rape".

Really? How about the Redskins change their name to the Washington Negroes, with emblems of Aunt Jemima on their helmets? You wouldn't think that's racist either? Because it's the same damn thing.

Actually, it's not the "same damn thing", but thanks for the false equivilency.

The "Aunt Jemima" character is a charicature based on a charecter in a minstral show. From it's very inception in the minstrel shows, it's meant to be an exaggreated stereotype. Whereas the Redskin's character has no such historical origins in it's creation; indeed, it's current incaranation was actually the creation of a Native American for the team.

Negro, as it relates to a reference for black people, was a term first used by europeans to describe and categorize such people. Redskin, as it relates to a reference for native americans, was a term first used by native americans to describe and categorize themselves.

Additionally, I believe one would be hard pressed to say 90% of the black population in this country would indicate indifference towards, or active support against, such a teams name being changed.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

Really? How about the Redskins change their name to the Washington Negroes, with emblems of Aunt Jemima on their helmets? You wouldn't think that's racist either? Because it's the same damn thing.

Tonight's game- the Washington Redskins vs. the New York Hebes.

jewalur.jpg
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

It's a slur.

Even if it was a positive generalization (as some claim) that is still harmful to society as it perpetuates a stereotype at the expense of non-militant Native Americans in portraying them, as a whole, as warmongers.

Bunk.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

Tonight's game- the Washington Redskins vs. the New York Hebes.

View attachment 67167979
Have you ever seen the logo? Please tell me what is offensive about it. Fight song is "Hail to the Redskins".

Anyone taking away from that anything offensive is just looking to be offended on purpose.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

I've never understood this argument. When is the last time you saw a professional sports team of any kind name themselves after something they despise or look down upon? That doesn't happen. It would be like Atlanta naming their sports team the Yankees. It costs a ton of money to rebrand a large company. It costs nearly nothing for people to stop being offended of their own perceptions long enough to educate themselves in the positive reasons the name was chosen.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

Have you ever seen the logo? Please tell me what is offensive about it. Fight song is "Hail to the Redskins".

Anyone taking away from that anything offensive is just looking to be offended on purpose.

My wife's Metis and last Christmas we had a bunch of her relatives over. A poll in my living room found that three out of three Natives thought the name sucks and should be changed.
They didn't like the Cleveland Indians logo, either.
You don't get to decide if Wop is offensive unless you're Italian, or if Frog is offensive unless you're French or Polack unless you're Polish, etc., so unless you're Native...
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

My wife's Metis and last Christmas we had a bunch of her relatives over. A poll in my living room found that three out of three Natives thought the name sucks and should be changed.
They didn't like the Cleveland Indians logo, either.
You don't get to decide if Wop is offensive unless you're Italian, or if Frog is offensive unless you're French or Polack unless you're Polish, etc., so unless you're Native...
I am of Italian decent, 2nd generation. The term Wop is intended to be an insult from the get go. As was frog, Mick, Polack and others.
Redskin was descriptive. Not an insult. Early settlers didn't know what else to call the native American. I guess they could have called the team the Savages.
I have said the Wahoo logo could be made more respectful, but in the land of the easily offended. I am sure that would not be enough.
 
Re: Tonighjt June 11 Watch The NBA Half Time For A Redskins Protest of Racism

Oh, and you wife and family should learn how the name came about and that their forefathers were fine with it.
 
Back
Top Bottom