Should the Redskins Change Their Name?
Offline http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/03/07/fight-on-battle-over-redskins-name-heads-to-court/
Once again people who apparently have nothing useful to do with their lives are attempting to prevent the Redskins from maintaining their trademark which would force them to change their name to something else. According to this story Suzan Harjo has spent "a third of her life" trying to force the Redskins to change their name. What an incredible waste of ones valuable lifetime. How can someone be offended by the name of a football team? I am offended by people who get offended.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
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It's pretty stupid. Don't the Black Hawks have to go through the same every now and then?
A third of her life eh? What a colossal waste. As if the name of a sports team could even make it into the top million problems facing our species.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
No, because the meaning of when it started is not the meaning fans take it to be today. Just like the original word "Gay" meant "happy" then got turned into a slur for gays, but now "gay" is used by gays as a positive.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
The link is not working, BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTT!!!!!!!!!!! I have never used the "official" name of the DC football team, EVER!!! I'm not going to waste 1/3 of my life fighting the offensive name (even now when they have an offense) but I never use it. On this site I use the term Washington first nations; have you noticed? WHY??? Growing up I knew meny Penobscots & Miq Maq they did not have red skin and did not care for the word, I may well be 1/4 Miq Maq myself. These native Americans wouldn't know a teepee or a buffalo if it ran over them but they do know about hogans and 3 dozen ways to cook frog legs; They wouldn't understand feathered war bonnets or horse riding eather but they could tell tales of icebergs the size of mountains and fish that breath air the size of 100 canoes, things the logo of the DC football team would find mind blowing and unbelievable [he seems to be a Piute or Kiowa] I'm no expert on native Americans. I do wish they would change the name to something less offensive and I have written this before on this site.
Why don't we have the Kanses City Darkies or maybe the St.Louis N*****s? Those names are at least as offensive.
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
Jefferic I am surprised at you really.
If we never allow uses of words to change language wouldn't change.
You do realize up until recent history the word "Atheist" was used as a slur to mean evil, immoral, and used to demonize us? Yet we still use it don't we?
No sane Redskins fan I know treats the word "Redskins" in the same manor as the slur it once was.
Just like gays do not treat the word gay the same way bigots do. Should gays not call themselves gay because others use it as a slur?
Really, no one should downplay the dark side of history EVER, but times change and this is now and not then.
Redskins as used now is NOT the same context and IS NOT a slur. Just like when I call Hillbilly atheist a "Redneck" him being my friend is not the same as as using it to denote a right wing bigot.
CONTEXT matters and as it stands now no one should be offended by the name "Redskins" to the fans it is a term of affection, not a slur.
Let me add, should Catholics or the Irish get upset about Notre Dame"s team name the "Fighting Irish"? Football is a violent sport so that must mean all Catholics and Irish are violent people.
What about Spartans? Are all Greeks violent? What about Trojans? Are all Romans violent?
This dwelling in the past is akin to the same "sins of the father" argument we argue against blaming current society for what Adam did in the garden.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
There is nothing I wrote above that I have not written before, right here, directed at you and other football fans. And I resent a histrionics lessons from anyone, my reputation here should cover that without further comment. I don't like the team name, I never use it and I wish they would change it and I am not joinig any crusade about it just throwing in my 5 cents worth [Canada doesn't trade in penny's anymore].
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
lol. I wonder if that'll catch on.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
http://anthropology.si.edu/goddard/redskin.pdf
The ironic thing is that the term "red skin" did not form as a slur. It was a direct translation of what they called themselves to differentiate themselves from white people. The first recorded usages of the term were translations of negotiations first between the Piankashaw's and the French where the "Old Sachem" Mosquito said in a letter sent to Lt. Col. John Wilkins who was tasked with peace negotiations among the Illinois tribes.
Which when translated to english
The village chief Hannanas replied to the Lt. Col saying
Which translates to
The first time the term was used directly in english was during a meeting of President Madison and several prominent Chiefs. French Crow of the Santee Sioux said
The first widely published use of the term was a direct translation of a speech by Meskwaki chief Black Thunder who said,
Anyway the link is to a journal article written by Professor Ives Goddard an expert in linguistics and he provides a very detailed account of how the term came into use. He summarizes at the end
Which when you think about it makes perfect sense. One can easily see how the term "Indian" could be offensive since it originated from the ignorance of Europeans. As well as the term "injun". Those were the terms used most often while the Americans were slaughtering them. I think it would make more sense to find the term "Native American" offensive since most of the tribes had no desire to be in any sense "American". In the supposedly politically correct term, we remind everyone how they were utterly conquered and forced to become Americans. What is more offensive, using a term that was created by white Americans to designate them, or to use the word they chose for themselves before Americans killed most of them?
You will also note that most of the native languages often tended to use less abstract words like "redskin" which point directly to the physical as opposed to english which is rife with various abstract words (like american). (I'm sure there is probably some linguistic term for such a difference in languages but my linguistic knowledge has been tapped- anyone?)
How can it be offensive to call your people by the name they adopted and died for? While saying it isn't offensive to adopt the name assigned to you by the people who conquered you? If you could get a time machine and pick up one of those chiefs who fought against American colonialism I bet they would bristle with rage at being called "native american", they were not american, they did not recognize american ownership of the land, they were redskins and many of them wanted nothing to do with America.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
I agree. I mean, if the organization, players or fans went running around saying disrespectful slurs about Indians then I would say, sure force them to change the name because they don't respect the Indians.
But, fans, players and the organization love the redskins and they don't disrespect the Indians. sure they make money off the image but it isn't like they are calling their team a specific Indian (like Cherokee or Seminole)
Which by the way is illegal because the Seminole tribe gave the FSU team the right to keep the name because why? they respect the Indians.
As for other tribes, no they were offended and asked that the teams change the names. Which has happened at the professional and college level.
(on another note)
I think we should get rid of all coins. We should only use whole dollars or have a 50 cent dollar bill. I hate coins. They are a by-gone-product of the old world. They should be tossed out just like day-light-savings.