ItaliaMuscle Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Right as preseason started I, once again, have been smothered in the good ole 'the Redskins name is racist' line. I'm venting on this topic, so please bare with me. Years ago the College of William and Mary, which is located in my beloved hometown of Williamsburg, Va called their athletic teams The Indians, then to be less offensive The Tribe. The Tribe used to use capital letters 'W' and 'M' as their logo with two feathers stemming out of the M. A few years ago those feathers were also deemed offensive and subsequently removed. In a hail mary attempt to create something to rally behind the college decided a Griffon would become their mascot. Thus, the W&M Tribe enters games behind a odd looking Griffon at games, sigh. I contain zero Native American blood, however, I find it difficult to imagine that folks were actually offended by two feathers in association to the name Tribe. Yet the change was made to appease the few and now the school is left with an alienating mascot and an unrelated nickname. I reference this because it's close to home and it is a microcosm of what could happen with my beloved Redskins. It's a blessing that Dan Snyder has been true to his guns about keeping the name. I applaud that whole heartily. Thousands of football players & fans have waved the Redskins Banner proudly for well over a half a century. I literally never thought of it as a racial slur growing up and I still don't. I have never heard it used in a rap song or movie, let alone in a foul or demeaning way. Not saying it hasn't been. I'm simply expressing that I've never heard/seen it because of it's obscurity. Truthfully, when I here 'the Redskins' I get a little excited and proud because it encompasses a legacy of utter magnificence and sparks a great deal of joy in my life. Sadly, it keeps getting bashed by folks who simply want to tear the entire banner down to something almost foreign in modern times, an Indian Racial Slur. Being 'feed up' doesn't hold a candle to my overall contempt of the name bashers. I hope I never live to see the name altered. It'd be a travesty to take it away from the millions of lives it has positively influenced. With that, I say 'Hail to the Redskins!' However, I want to throw one notion into the mix as brain chow. A group has been trying to have the Redskins trademark name revoked because it is a Slur. What if the team did change it's name and what if the name changed to the Washington Scalpers? It is not a slight on the Indian population because of their skin color but instead a broadcast of their known ferocity in combat. A distant cousin the the 'Fighting Irish' or the 'Highlanders' if you will. It would create even more uproar. It shouldn't be snub on the Indian race but it would amplify the fact that there is always a flip side to the coin. Wonder if the Cowboys would be a little more timid getting on the gridiron against an opponent with that name. And Fin. Thanks, Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy614 Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Aren't people who sell tickets to games already Washington Scalpers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnpmakkah Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 As a fan of the team, I don't want the name to change but I can understand why its offensive. Redskins, Blackskins, Brownskins, Yellowskins or Paleskins can all be considered a sense of 'pride', but it really isn't. I don't want it to change but part of me feels it's racist and should be changed. Most of the time I don't even say the Redskins, I just call them the Skins. If need be, get rid of the current logo/name and replace it with the feather/arrow combo and call them the Washington Skins. If anyone complains after that, they'd have no legal or moral grounds to stand on. Plus it won't feel like we're losing our teams identity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedlamVR Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 What it is is (from an outsiders point of view) the American people do not want to admit what they did to the indigenous people and would rather purge every single aspect of their existence than actually do something to actually improve the lot of their descendents ... People of American Indian descent who still live on reservations generally have low academic and career aspirations, high substance abuse problems, high unemployment and the government seems to want to go out their way to not acknowledge them .. However they will talk about a sports franchise name ... The other thing that bothers me is the history in all this ... the skins became the skins in 1937 (before they were the braves) but back then it was not considered and the negative conitations over the word and its use actual slur did not come in to common use until much more recently ....but the negativity has built as has the PC cause . it was not until the 1960s it was even used in Cowboy films for example to designate the bad guys ... And now it is the r-word - which is ridiculous - it really is - it is a cause the politicians love because it makes it look like they care while destracting the press from other things going on - but the cause is running ahead of the needs and desires of the people .. They would just like better treatment ... No one else in the world is concerned about the name - hell if a sports franchise in america , the Redskins, is offensive I often wonder how offended people would be of the New Zeland national Rugby team (All Blacks) or the national basket ball team (Tall Blacks) would be to these people ... Raise the plight of the native Americans, give them a little more help regenerate their areas but don't wipe any reference to them out of public use ... it is not how you help them ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhodus333 Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Just change the name to the Washington Shanahans. That way they won't even need to change the logo lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander PK Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 I have come to learn, the best thing that we as fans of the team can do to stop or slow the talk of a "name change" is to not click on the links and not discuss it at all. This includes not starting new threads on this topic. Ignore the haters. Ignore the media. When somebody brings it up. Don't discuss it, don't let anyone see that it bothers you. I'm convinced that most of the persons who bring this up are only doing it to get a reaction anyway. Their fake "outrage" is mostly just attention whoring. Let it go You cannot control what people say, but you can definitely control how you respond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Washington NoMoreThreads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 It's still early on the West Coast, Jumbo ought to be around soon to relegate this to the omnibus-OMG-not-again thread in the Tailgate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonnyandSam Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Troll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostofSparta Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 http://es.redskins.com/topic/365985-the-official-es-redskins-name-change-thread-all-things-related-to-changing-the-teams-name-go-here/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZRagone Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 I understand FULLY why some people may find the name offensive. The only actual scientific polilng data I've seen out there suggests that the vast majority of the native american population, who are the ones I care most about in terms of whether they find it offensive or not, don't have a huge issue with it. Given that fact...mixed with the intent behind the name, the origins, and the fact that the vast majority of those hearing the word "Redskins" today immediately think of "football team" rather than "god damn filthy native american savage"...I don't have any feeling that we need to change the name. That doesn't mean I think some people shouldn't be offended. I'm in no place to tell someone, especially a Native American, what they should or shouldn't be offended about. But the seemingly unusual offense to something by a small minority is not reason enough to instigate a change such as that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbo Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 We should rig these to auto-bans. <old devil smiley> (watch some idjit think that means the topic is a no-no lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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