Racist Names in Team Sports?



Photo by: www.sportsgeekery.com

It has long been known that some teams have names and/or logos that are...well, a bit offensive, potentially.

I remember when all of the rage with the Atlanta Braves baseball team in the early nineties was doing the "Tomahawk Chop". It was right around that time that the Washington Redskins were enjoying a level of dominance few teams ever achieve in Amercan football, or indeed in sports overall. The Braves got to the World Series and lost, and the Redskins eventually got to the Super Bowl, and won convincingly. But when they got there, a story long put to the side seemed to surface. It was the first time that I really heard the story, and it gave me pause for thought.

Since then, the issue has come up periodically, and it has done so again recently, right around the time of the Super Bowl (although the Redskins were not in this one). It is an issue that seems particularly relevant to the Washington football team, since they represent America's capital city, after all. So, having a team name that is considered, historically, a derogatory slur, has rubbed people the wrong way.

I remember Chris Rock joking that having a team named the "Washington Redskins" is a little like having a team called the "New York Niggers".

The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, part of the Smithsonian, hosted a forum this past Thursday to discuss the names and logos of certain pro sports franchises, to determine if they are racist and, is so, whether they should then be changed.

Museum Director Kevin Gover, of the Pawnee Nation, said the name “redskins” is the most offensive term for a team, at least to his ear.

“It is the equivalent of the n-word,” Gover said. “That's how it was used when I was a child. That's the name people chose to call me if they wanted to hurt my feelings, and I think that's still the case in many circumstances.”

The team has been using the nickname since 1933, and team owner Daniel Snyder has said that he is proud of the team's legacy and name.

I believe fans are, too,” Roger Goodell said. “I also understand the other side of that. I don’t think anybody wants to offend anybody.”

Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent D. Gray has actively avoided using the official team name "Redskins", and is referring instead to "our Washington football team." He has stated that he would like to enter into negotiations with teams owners to see if there is a real possibility that the team can change their name.

It should be noted that Washington has already had one of their franchises change their name and logo, because it was deemed offensive on some level. That would be the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association, who changed their name from the "Washington Bullets", because that name was seen as reinforcing the stereotype of the city as a violent place with much gun violence.

Is that the answer? Should we strive to essentially sanitize the names and logos of our sports franchises?

On the flip side, however, I remember some years ago, the last time this issue seemed to get some public attention. There were some comments at the end of the article, and one guy at least claiming to be a native American said that the whole issue was overblown. He suggested that it was almost insulting to make such an issue out of it, and he used the mascot and team name for Notre Dame as an example of how this kind of polical correctness can go too far. The logo for the Notre Dame college team, which is a leprauchaun putting up his dukes, plays on stereotypes, he claimed, as does the name, "The Fighting Irish". Tongue in cheek, he called into question why nobody seems to want to eliminate this stereotype, since it would offend many people.

He made some good points, as I remember, and I'm only sorry that I cannot find the link right now to share it on this page.

However, this debate will continue, most likely, and we will continue to hear from both sides. What do you guys think about it? Should the "Redskins" name stay or go? Or how about the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chicago Blackhawks, or the Florida Seminoles? Should all of those names and logos be changed? Is it somehow wrong that native Americans/Indians should be referenced at all?

If so, why restrict it to that? Maybe the Red Hot Chili Peppers should be chastised for their song, "Fight Like a Brave"? Or even for their song, "Catholic School Girls Rule", since some people surely would find that offensive? Perhaps Billy Joel, for "Only the Good Die Young", for his generalizations on Catholic school girls?

When people use racial slurs, it is often censored out these days. Yet, those same words used to be commonplace in everyday language, while words regularly heard on television nowadays, such as "ass" or "damn" or other words, nobody thinks twice over, let alone is shocked by. Are these things catering to our whims of the moment? 

The list can go on and on. If you allow it to, the list of things that could potentially be offensive to someone out there may literally never end. But is this something that we should give in to? Or should we let bygones be bygones, and accept it, if not necessarily like it? 

I'd love to hear your opinions on it.

Here is the link to an article expanding on the subject, with particular emphasis on the "Washington Redskins" in this case, written by Brett Zongker of the Associated Press on February 8th:

http://nativetimes.com/sports/mainstream/8411-american-indian-museum-tackles-racism-in-us-sports

"Panelists at Indian Museum forum team up against Redskins name" by Meredith Somers of the Washington Times:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/8/panelists-indian-museum-forum-team-against-redskin/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS


Here are some additional links:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/american-indian-museum-tackles-racism-174157366--nfl.html