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 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.