Research Paper On Redskins

A fan once said “There goes the Redskins season” and most times they are right. Although some people find this offensive. Not for the season part but for the name of the teams. For at least two years now fans and simple people have debated whether or not the teams name redskins was offensive to the Native Americans. Some say that it was offensive to the native people, Others disagreed. Having a team named after you is always respectful but in this case it is very offensive to the native American people.

Today in America the word Racism is taken to a whole new level. Even in sports, such as the NFL racism prospers. For instance the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. Native Americans are trying to say the NFL is being rude for naming a Team Redskins. The Redskins have had that name since 1933 (Staff). The team had the name of Braves before they adopted the name Redskins. It was changed due to racism purposes. Some people would agree that the whole situation with Redskins is ridiculous because The Major League Baseball series has two teams related to Native Americans, The Atlanta Braves and The Cleveland Indians. The NFL also has more than just Redskins. They have the Kansas City Chiefs. So if they are really worried about

Should the Washington Redskins change their team name due to controversy with Native Americans? That has been the questions since the 1980s. There are many different views on the issue. Some people believe the name should stay, some insist it should be changed, and others are ultimately indifferent. In the end, changing the name is the definite right choice, the Washington Redskins name is offensive to the Native American people and therefore it must go. The name is not only offensive to the Native American people, but people outside of Native American 's find issue with it, and it also promotes ethnic stereotyping.

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.

The word redskin is both offensive and degrading to the Native Americans, and is a word that should be banned in the United States. Most people simply think “ What is the harm in the word redskin?”. For most people they do not realize that it seems the word is harmless but it’s actually offensive to others. If we go around using this word, we are teaching young people it's okay to use the word “blackie” to african americans, or that it's okay to Caucasian“whitie”. The world also holds negative association so when you use it towards someone it seems as if you're trying to call them a hurtful name. It’s not a literal insult but it’s not something we should be saying. The National Football League has a professional team named the Washington Redskins,

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,

Snyder and others strongly believe it’s sacred and deserves to stay with history behind it. The tradition started from tribes and chiefs back in the settlement time. Everything now is respect for the tribes in our nation. The biggest point that the United States wants to get across to the public is pride. In today 's society there is a blind love for the teams and mascots we have today. The hidden picture is seeing that the sports side of our world has the biggest appreciation for Native Americans. Harjo says, “it’s not about choosing sides, it’s about doing the right thing” (Wulf).

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.

Did you know Dallas Cowboys were found in 1960? The Cowboys are 2nd place with most superbowl wins 5 super bowl wins. The team’s stadium is in Arlington ,Texas. The cowboys are the only team to win 20 season matches straight.Their roster’s captains are Tony Romo,Dez Bryant,Jason Witten,Sean Lee,and Joseph Randle.Did you know the cowboys won their first game in 1961 against the Minnesota Vikings.

What is considered offensive? Is it considered offensive to use obscenities around children? According to many people in the United States, it is sport team names and mascots that depict a certain group of people are considered offensive. People around the United States are trying to get professional sport teams to change their names and mascots because they feel it depicts their certain race in bad way. Teams should have to change their mascot and their name if they are named after a certain group of people.

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.

This is why the NFL team the Washington Redskins was originally named what they were named. When Jim Thorpe, George Halas, Ralph Hay and many other created the NFL their intentions were not to use Redskins as a racist thing. Some people today do not like the name Redskins for sports because they believed it is racist and has a harmful meaning behind it. But this is not the case for the Washington Redskins. Roger Goodell says that all of the players for the Redskins know what their name means and are very proud to honor the Native people to this day. This was just one of many examples of how Professional Sport teams are trying to honor the early Native

Despite a 2016 Washington Post poll found that 9 out 10 Native Americans aren’t offended by the name Redskins, teams that use Native American names, logos, brands, or imagery like the

Racially offensive language and images has recently been a huge problem for our adversarial society. In Washington, D.C., Michael Lindsey, who is the lead attorney for a group of Native Americans for are trying to file a lawsuit against the Washington Redskins because the select group of Native Americans find the team name offensive to their culture. They find it degrading because of the actual term “Redskins.” The Native American group is trying to strip the rights away from the organization but if the NFL team lose the case they can still use the brand name but they lose the trademark.