There’s an intramural basketball team getting a significant amount of national attention lately. A group of Native American students at the University of Northern Colorado named their basketball squad “The Fighting Whites” after local activists in Colorado failed to get an area high school to change its name from the Fightin’ Reds.
A team member who also directs Northern Colorado’s Native American Student Services told the media the team wanted to “do something that will let people see the other side of what it’s like to be a mascot.”
Last Tuesday, the story got so huge that the area newspaper’s website crashed from getting about 30,000 hits, compared to its typical 200 in one day. These kids have set up a line of sportswear and a team logo featuring a smiling white guy in a necktie. Their slogan: “Every thang’s gonna be all white.” The proceeds from merchandise sales go to a scholarship fund.
While this sort of merchandise is fairly enterprising, some merchandise that’s been around for quite a while is in jeopardy. A group of Native Americans in D.C. are pushing the petitions they’ve been working on for several years to get the Redskins’ name and trademark logo removed from the NFL club.
The team wouldn’t be forced to change anything if a suit went through, but National Football League Properties, Inc., could lose exclusive rights to use the team name on merchandise.
Even more recently, a council of local governments adopted a resolution requesting Dan Snyder change the name of the team, calling it offensive.
A resolution like this doesn’t have any sort of legal force, but council members hope it will increase pressure on Snyder.
The debate regarding the appropriateness of Native American imagery has been around for quite some time. And the arguments have gotten fairly stock; proponents of getting rid of names and mascots call them racially insensitive and dehumanizing, while opponents of change cite the tradition of the franchise and honoring Native American culture.
If it all comes down to tradition, Snyder ought to make a move. What’s more important, 70 years of franchise tradition or the 300-year tradition of butchering Native American culture?
Opponents of a name change will continue to jabber on about how there are more important struggles for minorities than the name of a sports franchise, or that the term “Redskin” actually signifies positive traditions of bravery, determination and honor. The attorney for the ‘Skins says the club has heard from several Indian chiefs who find the name respectful.
Regardless of these points of view, nothing will change the fact the word is one of the most derogatory racial slurs ever to enter our lexicon. It doesn’t make sense that a word that should be akin to using the n-word (sports has managed to make it acceptable to use one and not the other) is so commonly flung around. The reason it doesn’t offend as many people as it should is because they’ve become desensitized to its horrific connotations because it is so casually used to label sports teams.
There aren’t too many minority groups in the United States that have had to endure such a battle to maintain their ancestry and traditions as the Native Americans. It’s shocking not to see much more support for removing this insensitive insult from the helmets of 63 men representing diverse backgrounds.
The traditions the Washington franchise should be celebrating are those that include names like Art Monk and Joe Gibbs and a couple Super Bowl wins, not those that include bigotry, stereotypes and a history of oppression. Logos and nicknames don’t make a franchise storied; the players and their brand of football do.
Washington is celebrating its 70th anniversary this upcoming season. The team has a brand new coach in Steve Spurrier, who is hoping to translate his collegiate coaching success into success for a team that hasn’t seen championship play in over a decade. The front office recently unveiled a sleek look the team will adopt for the 2002 season with a logo and style reminiscent of the team’s look from 1965-69. Snyder and company are organizing a slew of charity and fan-oriented events to celebrate the franchise.
Snyder is quoted on the team website: “Since the team’s founding in 1932 the Washington Redskins have honored tradition and the past … Our 70th anniversary is a great time to celebrate everything the team stands for.”
Wouldn’t it be great if the team decided to honor its real tradition and past by disassociating the team name from a tradition and past of hatred? Wouldn’t it be a real step forward to mark this anniversary by replacing the current logo with a new image rather than returning to the old spear-and-feather emblem of the late ’60s?
The Redskins’ management, players and fans don’t mean any harm by being passive about their team’s moniker, but it’s about time for a little respect.
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