The Washington Redskins Should Change Their Name

History of Native American names in the sports world were originally established to show disrespect, but today represent honor and pride. These “offensive” names came into a new era and were established across the states. In the beginning of this trend Indians had no say over what was offensive and where they stood politically. Daniel Snyder says, “My team and fans have always believed our name represents honor, respect and pride.” Law professors agreed with Snyder and said they shall keep their name. USA Today Sports said, “it was bad as a Native American life as it had ever been during the time of reservation establishment.” Populations had collapsed from several million to 250,000 from reservation confinement and merges made by the federal government. Since the name fiasco laws have been put in place to civilize Indians. These laws were passed by bureaucrats creating tutelage for

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.

There has been many controversy with teams using Native American name for mascots and has become a major issue in today’s society. Many have viewed the Washington Redskins as honor for Native Americans, others see it racist, insensitive, and demeaning. Woods (2016) claims that “the complaint is that the use of stereotypical team names, mascots, and logos perpetuates an ideology that dehumanizes and demeans the cultures of Native Americans” (p. 298). Since the issue arise, many scholars, journalists and leaders have joined the battle to ensure that each team will eliminate the nicknames since it is considered abusive or hostile. It may take time but the trend is growing. More than 1,400 professional, collegiate,

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,

Dating back several hundreds of years ago, Native Americans have been deprived, dehumanized, and demoralized ever since Christopher Columbus and his men came and seized the land from the Indigenous Peoples. There have been many tactics that have been used to strip the dignity of the Indigenous Peoples, but the use of an American Indian sports mascot is one tactic that has been in effect since 1932. There are some supporters of these various American Indian sports mascots such as Dan Snyder, the current team owner of the Washington Redskins, that do not feel that these sports mascots have any negative connotations. Dan Snyder may have had a few points when he wrote his letter, but he fails to realize that the American Indian Sports Mascots are

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,

Although Native Americans have told ESPN and the owner of the team that they disliked the term redskin and that they are not comfortable being a mascot or subject to slurs, the name is unsuccessful to do so. Many natives are seen protesting on the street showing people that they want a name change and to raise awareness of

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 Native American people have a tenacious opinion on whether the Washington Redskins team should change their name due to its derogatory meaning. According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, the word “Redskin” is defined as Native American, but is specifically stated to be “Usually Offensive”(Merriam-Webster). The Native Americans deeply thought that the names, symbols, and mascots were completely disrespectful,

The Redskins name symbolizes the organizations past, present and future. Coaches, players, and dedicated fans are concerned that the franchise will lose the support of the community and funding if a campaign to change the Redskins name is not implemented.

The controversy of Indian mascots is a widespread issue seen across the U.S.;is it racist , or is it justified? From different viewpoints from many people the answers vary from group to group.I believe it is not racist and believe that it is honoring. Natives should have the final say, but regular americans still step in and want a say in the whole issue. The Indian mascot has been used all across the U.S. ranging from elementary schools all the way to college and professional sports teams. “In fact Over 2,128 other teams use indian referenced team names not just professional”.(Munguia, Hayley)Ranging from many racial terms to regular tribe names. The main focus of the controversy is focused on the professional sports team the Washington Redskins.Many people see this team as racist and degrading to Indians. Some say it is similar to the racial slur n***** to African Americans. I believe the Redskins, may be politically incorrect representation of the Indians but not all indian mascots are racist or wrong. Indian mascots bring history, power, cultural, education and strong images of Indians to Native Americans and all American people. .

The article, “The 2,128 Native American Mascots People Aren 't Talking About” written by Hayley Munguia gives a massive overview of not only the Redskins, but the 2, 129 other teams representing the controversial Native American mascot references. Munguia begins the article by sharing that a little boy does not even realize the connection between the Redskins and the Native American innuendo. She that this is not just the issue of an NFL team, but about all the other teams in High School, College, Semi Pro, and Pro athletics, and how “8.2% of college have Native American team names. Munguia goes into an interview with a high school coach from the Estelline Redmen. He claims that the name is for the “color they

The franchise has decided to appeal this ruling by the court. The team attorney for the Washington Redskins franchise claims that, “We are convinced that we will win because the facts and the law are on the side of our franchise that has proudly used the name Redskins for more than 80 years” (Bruce Allen 2015). The team even plans to take this process to the Supreme Court. While the name may come off as a derogatory term, it will be very hard for the native americans to win again due to longevity. Not only this, but throughout history, the native americans have always been on the losing

The Washington Redskins have had the name since they began playing in the NFL. Its name does not have anything to do with the team, however, the connotation of the word “Redskin", negative and a derogatory term, shows why the Washington Redskins should change their name. Charles Krauthammer explains his reasons of why they should change the name of the team by using the example of the word “retarded” as it is now, not associated with being dumb or insufficient intelligence, rather “developmentally disabled”. He later explains how someone would not simply go up to someone and call them “retarded” due to the connotation it has. Krauthammer also recognises the fact that there are still people to this day who “contain sentimental and historical

Schaefer (2012) states, “discrimination is the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or other arbitrary reasons” (Schaefer, 2012). Courtland Milloy inquires about discrimination in the article Do the Redskins Need a New Name? by P. J. Orvetti (2011) when he states, “Why is it okay to use “redskins” but not, say “blackskins” or “whiteskins” (Orvetti, 2011)? When I mentioned Milloy’s statement to a peer, she seemed somewhat surprised, because it never occurred to her that “redskins” was an offensive term, she claimed that she only knew this term from its relation to the football team. Although using altered images of Native American may seem relatively harmless, they cause long term effects on a race because people begin to see the race as more of a joke than an actual group of people who have emotions and are worthy of the same rights and respect as any other race. When I was younger, every picture or video I saw of a Native American depicted people adorned in the same feather covered outfit, speaking the same clichéd dialects, and making “howling” or “whooping” noises. For instance, in Walt Disney’s