Redskins Controversy

When one typically thinks about a Native American, they picture this ideological representation of a Native American as depicted by popular culture. Native Americans are underrepresented on television, in books, in news, and all other forms of media. We, as a society, have chosen a path of ignorance in which we have chosen not to educate ourselves or our future generations on the true culture of Native Americans. We have ignored the negative impacts of using mascots such as “Redskins” and instead let it serve as a stereotype to fill our heads with unrealistic views and understandings of Native American culture. The resulting misconceptions leave many Native American students with a feeling of inferiority and questioning their self-worth.

Teams that have the name like Redskins, Indians, and Red Raiders are racist terms used as mascots. Interchange the name with the Negroes, the Jews or the Asians and that sounds even worse but, it all means the same thing. They are all racist terms that no one should use to represent something like a team name. According to racismagainstindians.org, Native Americans were banned from practicing their own religion and would be often thrown in jail if they were caught all the way up to 1978. But when nonnative people at sporting events would dance and sing their songs it would be completely okay. This makes no sense,

Many people look at the Washington Redskins logo and see it just the same as any of the other NFL teams’ logos. So, why take the time and money to change their brand for the very few amount of people that think it’s little offensive? In the past couple of years, a lot of people see many pro and college sports teams differently because of their mascot or logo. Native Americans, whose culture diminished ever since Europeans stepped onto the shores of the East, are used as branding for all levels and divisions of athletics teams. A lot of people argue for both sides of the conflict, with one side reasoning that the logos look racist and disrespect Native American culture, and the other side reasoning that they honor Indians and there is not even an issue. However, a ton of people fighting for the Indian mascot’s removal do not know how Native Americans themselves truly feel about them. Also, the general public probably does not know either that many schools actually work with specific tribes to make sure that they respect their culture. The United States should not ban Native American mascots because most Native Americans don’t get insulted from sports teams’ logos and many teams work with tribes to make sure that they don’t disparage Indian customs and traditions.

The debate about whether or not the Washington Redskins should change their name has been a topic for a long time. Some Native Americans have often considered the name a racial slur and think that the league should get rid of the name as it doesn’t represent Native Americans in the best way possible. In 1937 the Redskins moved to Washington and decided to retain the name even though it had faced backlash then. Since then the team has over time shown more caution on using slogans that may disrespect Native Americans. Some slogans they did use include “On the Warpath, with a cartoon drawing of an angry Indian, and another called “Teepee Talk, featuring a clip-art Indian sticking his head out of a tepee” (Shapira, 2016, Para.5). There will always be a debate if the team should get rid of its name but for right now Washington’s football teams name is the Redskins.

Have you thought about the name or mascot of your favorite sports team like the Chicago Blackhawks, the Washington Redskins, or even a college team like Florida State Seminoles? These teams and more have been accused of being racist towards Native Americans and their culture. However, many teams do not intentionally use their mascots to discriminate against Natives. Instead, they represent Native American Tribes and use names to respect the history of the tribal nation. Others would say that sports teams are just using those native titles to gain more fans. Also, natives would argue that professional sports teams are making fun of their tribes because of the decisions that the team has made about the way that the native cultures are portrayed. People would say that teams with native mascots have lack of respect towards Native Americans. However, many professional sports teams that are named after a native tribe are respectful towards the native heritage in ways such as having a partnership with the tribe, honoring a leader that the team was named after, and even helping out a tribe.

     Many people do not consider themselves supporting Native American mascots that depict them in a bad manner. But when people walk around with a Atlanta Braves shirt on with a Indian with a tomahawk in his hand, it is degrading to the Indians. It is stereotyping them. School mascots and Sports team’s mascots are named after groups of people for no reason known. Notre Dame was founded by Irish Catholics, but their sports team was named the Fighting Irish. The name Fighting Irish has nothing to do with the Irish Catholics, it depicts them in a wrong way.(Price, 3). Team names can be changed to similar names that do not depict certain groups of people. Like the Redskins can be called the Red Hawks or the

Nowadays we do not see the Indians or Redskins as a negative way of describing a race or culture. We see them as professional teams that play hard and get our spirits up. Out of all teams, I would say that the Redskins is probably the most racist of all names because of the term it was used years ago. I would change the name to something more honorable towards Native Americans. Braves is actually more honorable than Redskins because they are identifying Native Americans as Brave rather than a negative stereotype of a name. The team name, Redskins, has actually received backlash for many years because it was seen as insulting and offensive to people of Native American culture. After many polls of whether to keep the name or not, 83 percent of people chose to keep the name as it was not used as racial slur. At this point, the team names are not meant as a racial slur so there shouldn't be any

After reading “Playing Indian” and “Fighting Mascots”, the arguments and tactics that Suzan Harjo employed in her article was relating back to the passing time of Native American history. Specifically, Harjo explained the color that the NFL team, the Washington “Redskins”. For instance, “...impose this false identity, its name is even more vile, because it is rooted in the commodification of Native skin and body parts as bounties and trophies” (621). Additionally, Harjo is exploiting the history that Native people have suffered and by showing off Native Americans as some sort of trophy does not sit well with her. Ultimately, I think that Harjo is effectively stating her argument to the Washington Redskins NFL team by relating to past history.

Since the mid-1900s, the questionable legacy of Native American names used as sports mascots has sparked debate across the United States. "After 81 years, the Washington Redskins name continues to hold the memories and meaning of where we come from, who we are, and who we want to be in the years to come," Washington’s NFL owner, Dan Snyder, declared when faced with condemnations of the controversial name. While many uphold Snyder’s statement, others are offended, and are determined to eliminate all team mascots with Native American symbolism. However, the Washington Redskins are not alone in the debate against Native American logos and mascots. Any sports team should be allowed to represent themselves by using Native American words.

The Washington Redskins name and mascot represents one of the most recognized American Indian figures in the United States. The controversial team name has been used since 1933, ever since changing from its original name “Boston Braves”. It has sparked a nationwide outcry among the remaining Native Americans who reside in the United States. Indians are forced to be reduced to cartoon savages, ferocious warriors, and animal like heathens. After centuries of rampant dismissal, removal, and destruction of this group, White Americans are still finding ways to subtly keep these barriers in place which separates them. America’s growing tolerance of racist stereotypes is disturbing. The fact that many Americans do not realize that these

First of all, these names are racist and discriminatory towards that American Indian culture. The nicknames of “Redskins” and “Chiefs” are not needed and completely unnecessary. When writing about racism and discrimination in the NFL, 50 U.S. Senators sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, that asked,"We urge you and the National Football League to send the same clear message as the NBA did: that racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports,"(Washington Redskins Name). What this means is that more and more people are trying to ban and get rid of these harmful,discriminatory, and racist team

Many professional and collegiate level sports teams bear native American name as there team names. Some native American’s find it offensive that sports team have names such as “redskins” while others take it as a compliment that professional team would choose that as there name.

The first team that is widely debated about is the NFL’s Washington Redskins. One reason why the Washington Redskins’ name is not appropriate is because “[redskin] is a dictionary defined slur” (Shapiro, Fox News). This is a good reason, since the term “slur” is a disparaging and minimizing remark according to the dictionary. Another reason why the term “redskin” is not appropriate is that it was “used with an attitude of hostility in the late 19th and early 20th centuries” (Dictionary.com).

The main reason that this team has been reprimanded is for their name. The term “redskins” has been said to be a derogative term for Native Americans. This brings me back to the oversensitivity of people. The public has allowed themselves to be hurt by words. It seems like no one in the United States has thick enough skin to not be offended by a simple word. It is sad to me that people are fighting and dying for their country in the Middle East, but the community is more worried about what names are used in a game. If that wasn’t enough, according to the Washingtonian Magazine, most Native Americans do not find it offensive. The magazine says, “In a surprise to anyone who has followed the controversy over the last two years, only one in ten answered “offensive” to the following question: The professional football team in Washington calls itself the Washington Redskins. As a Native American, do you find that name offensive, or doesn’t it bother you?” (Whiting). If I was the owner of the team, I wouldn’t change the name either. There is no point for him to waste his money on reorganizing the team if the minority of people are offended by

Even though some sport teams may use the derogatory term as their team name such as “redskin”, there is not sufficient reason to state all Native American mascot are disrespectful.