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WBAL: Redskins win naming battle(Merged)


MattFancy

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4169336

"WASHINGTON -- The Washington Redskins won another legal victory Friday in a 17-year fight with a group of American Indians who argue the football team's trademark is racially offensive.The decision issued Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington doesn't address the main question of racism at the center of the case. Instead, it upholds the lower court's decision in favor of the football team on a legal technicality.

The court agreed that the seven Native Americans waited too long to challenge the trademark first issued in 1967. They initially won -- the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office panel canceled the trademarks in 1999 -- but they've suffered a series of defeats in the federal courts since then."

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My wife's firm actually represented the injuns in the 1999 case. I never stop taunting the lawyers involved about the ludicrous nature of their case. They get rather flustered because a part of them believed in what they were doing, but, when faced with simple logic they have a difficult time supporting their initial views.

As an example, it's hard to question that word usage defines word meaning. If I'm singing Hail to the Redskins, it's hard to argue I'm really saying screw those Indian bastiges. If I'm saying, "I'm going to kill you, you filthy redskin," it's hard to argue I'm talking about the football team.

Word meaning changes over years. Redskins no longer means Indian. It means football team.

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These people are ignorant. They are just looking for a fight and some attention. Irish americans are not complaining about the Celtics. British are not complaining about Buccaneers and Cavaliers. They should be honored that they are being reconized as a fierce and powerful symbol of pride. They also need to do thier research. The Redskins does not refer to the natural reddish skin that Native Americans have but rather a specific tribe of Native Americans that would crush berries and paint themselves red as a war ritual. This tribe is Historically located in the region of New England that encompasses Boston. This team adopted the name Redskins while they were located in Boston.

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My wife's firm actually represented the injuns in the 1999 case. I never stop taunting the lawyers involved about the ludicrous nature of their case. They get rather flustered because a part of them believed in what they were doing, but, when faced with simple logic they have a difficult time supporting their initial views.

As an example, it's hard to question that word usage defines word meaning. If I'm singing Hail to the Redskins, it's hard to argue I'm really saying screw those Indian bastiges. If I'm saying, "I'm going to kill you, you filthy redskin," it's hard to argue I'm talking about the football team.

Word meaning changes over years. Redskins no longer means Indian. It means football team.

Very good point.

However, what infuriates me is the fact that so many people don't even know the history of the how the team came to be called "Redskins." If people would actually look at the history behind the name, they would see that the name, logo, etc. all have been presented and pushed forward by Native Americans and for the honor of Native Americans.

The funny thing is that there are many people who are not offended at all until some White, Left-wing PC nut comes along and tells them they should be. Then, all of a sudden they are. That is not be offended;that is being a weak-minded puppet to someone else's political agenda.

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I'm interested in how this new case gets worked out in court.

I've got no problems with the Redskins changing their name if it is in fact "racially offensive". The main problem I have though is that I've met many Native Americans who fall on both sides of the issue so that I can't see a clear cut issue here.

I did some research on the term itself a few years ago and found that its actual origins weren't intended to be racist, but the term did have many racist uses over the years.

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I'm interested in how this new case gets worked out in court.

I've got no problems with the Redskins changing their name if it is in fact "racially offensive". The main problem I have though is that I've met many Native Americans who fall on both sides of the issue so that I can't see a clear cut issue here.

I did some research on the term itself a few years ago and found that its actual origins weren't intended to be racist, but the term did have many racist uses over the years.

Hence, it can never be proven to be a FACT that the name is "racially offensive." This is all about some people's opinion, mostly based on ignorance of the name's history.

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Hence, it can never be proven to be a FACT that the name is "racially offensive." This is all about some people's opinion, mostly based on ignorance of the name's history.

yeah, but I do wonder how large the groups on each side are. I mean, there are several other terms that were not "originally" intended to be racist, but many take them as racist because of the history of this country. (my mind immediately is drawn to the Obama cartoon with him drawn as a monkey).

....maybe this belongs in tailgate because I can see it turning into a really political discussion and not too much skins related (other than the name itself).

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I'm interested in how this new case gets worked out in court.

I've got no problems with the Redskins changing their name if it is in fact "racially offensive". The main problem I have though is that I've met many Native Americans who fall on both sides of the issue so that I can't see a clear cut issue here.

I did some research on the term itself a few years ago and found that its actual origins weren't intended to be racist, but the term did have many racist uses over the years.

My question for you would be...if a court finds it to be "racist", does that make it so?

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My wife's firm actually represented the injuns in the 1999 case. I never stop taunting the lawyers involved about the ludicrous nature of their case. They get rather flustered because a part of them believed in what they were doing, but, when faced with simple logic they have a difficult time supporting their initial views.

As an example, it's hard to question that word usage defines word meaning. If I'm singing Hail to the Redskins, it's hard to argue I'm really saying screw those Indian bastiges. If I'm saying, "I'm going to kill you, you filthy redskin," it's hard to argue I'm talking about the football team.

Word meaning changes over years. Redskins no longer means Indian. It means football team.

In any case, when did anyone name their team the Washington Big Fat Hairy Losers? Not only has the word's meaning lost its racial context in the last 100 years, the intent was never to defame or stereotype anyone. team names are celebratory and held up as something very positive rather than derogatory.

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and more importantly, should the federal government be involved in banning names and words it deems racist at all? Especially when it is the name of a privately held entity?

It's not about banning.

It's about whether the trademark of the name and logo are legal.

If they kill the trademark, then anyone can make money off the name and logo and that's why the Redskins are fighting it.

It's all about the $$$$$$$$$$.

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This line said it all

Raskopf said it's all too late. "The time when the case could have been brought was 1967," he said. "So it's not going to get any easier for anybody to bring the case now."

Seriously, just give it a rest.

I got that quote from this article about it, which i think was also posted here

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4169336

it's a little more in depth than the article above

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