Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktSlate magazine today declared that the name of the Washington professional football team, the Redskins, is forever banned from its pages. The name, apparently, is simply too offensive and Slate is taking a stand.
Which is actually a bit weird. Slate admits that the name “is not an open-and-shut outrage” and that it “has a relatively innocent history.” It acknowledges that the name’s creator, original team own George Preston Marshall, “was almost certainly trying to invoke Indian bravery and toughness, not to impugn Indians,” and even that current team owner Dan Snyder probably “is[n’t] lying to us or to himself when he sees only the bright side of the name.” Why, then, is Slate so adamant about joining the bandwagon to get the Redskins to become, well, something else? Because, it says, times have changed.”[T]ime passes, the world changes, and all of a sudden a well-intentioned symbol is an embarrassment.”
Well, yes, time has passed, and the world has changed. But the only really relevant change is the fact that the term “redskin” no longer possesses whatever derogatory connotations it might once have had. Why? Precisely because it is the name of the Washington football team. When was the last time anyone heard the word used in a context outside of a sports team name, in a derogatory manner? Google the term “redskin” and the only results you will get…the only results, page after page…will be references to the football team. In fact the use of the term as a team name has pretty much eliminated its effectiveness as a slur, even if someone wanted to use it as such. To the average person in America the term means and brings to mind only one thing…the Washington football team.
It is rare to be able to take a slur (again, to whatever extent it ever was one) and eliminate the sting inherent in the word. Some critics of the name have tried to press their point by asking us to try to imagine using other ethnic slurs as the name of a sports team, like for example the Washington N-words. Absurd and offensive, of course. But imagine that just such a thing had been done in a long distant, less sensitive time, and imagine further that, as a result of its repeated and common use in that context, no one ever used the term as a racial epithet anymore. To use the word was to refer to a sports team, not to demean a black person. Wouldn’t that actually be a welcome change from our current situation in which the word – a simple word! – is so powerful and taboo that mature adults have to act like embarrassed grade schoolers reporting to the teacher that they heard someone cursing (“He said the f-word!!!”)? Of course we have no hope of that ever happening with the dreaded n-word, which will forever carry its historical implications and therefore will also always be banished from polite conversation. But that is precisely what has happened with the term redskin, even if not by design. Why shouldn’t that achievement be embraced?
Besides, consider the following:
Now you tell me, which of these is a more offensive stereotype: the staid, dignified Native American of the Washington Redskins, or the impish, belligerent, and almost certainly itching-for-a-brawl drunk of the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish? If the latter isn’t too offensive to be mentioned and seen in polite company, neither is the former. Leave the ‘Skins alone.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Sports |
All Things in Moderation 
Great thing about being a Steelers fan is not caring about Washington’s team.
Oh, and Brooks is an idiot.
“DAVID BROOKS
The Nudge Debate
David Brooks
Considering how mentally lazy most of us are, a little soft paternalism that forces us to choose what’s good for us is probably just what we all need.”
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jnc:
Oh, and Brooks is an idiot.
It seems to be a job requirement for the Times’ op-Ed page.
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I’ve always contended that ‘Fighting Irish’ is a derogatory ethnic slur which traffics in vicious stereotypes. They might as well be called the Drunken Micks.
In my travels one year through the Navajo territory in north-eastern Arizona I saw a high school with a very familiar logo on their sign. I had stumbled across the home of the Red Mesa Redskins, one of three majority Native American high schools which use that term as a mascot.
Personally, I refer to the professional team in question as either the Washington NFL Franchise or the Landover Racial Slurs. But I’m from Baltimore and realize that not every team can have a rich and meaningful literary metaphor as a mascot.
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Brooks is an idiot.
This is news?
EDIT: As a non-libertarian I want to express my outrage on their behalf towards the term ‘libertarian paternalist’.
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Civil Forfeiture as another war on the underclass.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/08/12/130812fa_fact_stillman?currentPage=all
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But I’m from Baltimore and realize that not every team can have a rich and meaningful literary metaphor as a mascot.
What exactly is the rich and meaningful literary metaphor of the “Browns”?
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JNC — you’re a Steelers fan? I knew I liked you.
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From the upper decks at Heinz Field —
Q: “What color is dog shit!”
A: Browns!
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Yep on Steelers. It was a legacy of being young in the 1970’s. Either it was the Steelers with Terry Bradshaw, Mean Joe Green, and the Steel Curtain, or the Cowboys with Roger Staubach.
Choice was easy, although I will say that the Coke ad was genius.
“yellojkt, on August 8, 2013 at 9:47 pm said:
…
EDIT: As a non-libertarian I want to express my outrage on their behalf towards the term ‘libertarian paternalist’.”
Hence my assessment of his column. “Opt-out paternalism” would have been a better turn of phrase for what he’s describing.
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I was passed down from father to son in my case. born 78.
and it will be to my boy. and god helps us, i might be able to talk pirates baseball with him.
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TNR and Mother Jones join Slate’s self-congratulatory ban on the name Redskins. Figures. NYT to follow soon, no doubt.
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Teams change names all the time and in many cases retain names they should have lost. The Los Angeles Lakers is silly (the Minnesota Lakers worked). There is little jazz in Utah (though there’s a lot in New Orleans). Tennessee sensibly ditched the Oilers to become the Titans. Not sure a flaming “T” strikes terror in anyone’s heart, but what the hey. Perhaps the Tennessee Terrors. The Washington Wizards used to be the Bullets (I think they should have kept the name and picked up the Acela as a sponsor). I was rather amused when the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore, only at the price of becoming the Ravens. Funny how the Colts didn’t have to pay that particular price. Two Superbowl wins later, I’m guessing that Charm City is happy with the deal.
Redskins strikes me as a weak racial epithet. The ‘skins haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory in the recent years when it became an issue. I wouldn’t countenance the New York Niggers, the Kansas City Kikes or the Washington Wops (though Doo Wops works).
Charges of racial insensitivity in team names can go too far in my view. There’s been a backlash against any association with Native American names. In the case of Kansas City, some have objected to the Chiefs. Given the recent prominence of a certain Kansas City chef, perhaps they can be the Kansas City Chefs. For the record, Kansas City used to have three professional teams. The Royals, The Kings, and The Chiefs. It’s a pretty clear theme. They lost the Kings to Sacramento, but eventually picked up Sporting Kansas City.
Negative connotations associated with a word don’t really change. When joining this here place, I wrote about parenting two special needs children. Back in the day, the term that would be used is retarded, which is of course considered a slur. What is the current term? Developmentally delayed. Hmm… Retarded vs. delayed. They sound pretty similar to me. I suppose delayed has more general usage and so one is unlikely to hear one teen tell another That’s so delayed.
Anyway, the owner of the Redskins is not going to change their name. Until it costs him serious $$$, of course.
BB
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I’ve always been a little intrigued by the taxonomy of sporting team names. The Washington NFL Franchise name belongs in the group of Native American related names which is actually a subset of teams named after barbaric warriors. These would include:
Atlanta Braves
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Chiefs
Minnesota Vikings
Oakland Raiders
Pittsburgh Pirates
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sometimes these warriors are mythical.
San Francisco Giants
Tennessee Titans
Less common than names for violent groups of men are names of teams related to tough burly professions.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Oilers
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
But most teams are named after animals. Jungle cats are a favorite themes.
Detroit Lions
Detroit Tigers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Charlotte Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
But birds are the more popular animal
Philadelphia Eagles
Atlanta Falcons
Seattle Seahawks
Baltimore Ravens
Oddly, many baseball teams are named after birds but not the ones that elicit terror.
Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays
St. Louis Cardinals
But lots of other animals make the cut.
Miami Dolphins
Arizona Diamondbacks
Milwaukee Bucks
St. Louis Rams
Chicago Cubs
My alma mater is the Yellow Jackets which like the Richmond Spiders is a team named after bugs. The only pro team that I can think of that follows this format is the Charlotte Hornets.
Finally, there is a broad class of teams which are some sort of regional shout-out or pun.
New York Knicks
Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia 76ers
Montreal Canadiens
Colorado Rockies
Buffalo Bills
Minnesota Twins
Chicago Bears and Chicago Bulls (it’s only funny if you put them together)
New York Yankees (although this would be more apt in New England)
Tampa Bay Lighting (which also fall in the small subgroup of teams named after natural disasters or weather phenomenon)
Of course, this list can’t include them all because there are just odd inexplicable names like Washington Wizards (which really should still be the Baltimore Bullets) and Orlando Magic (which isn’t even owned by Disney like the Anaheim Ducks).
And it’s not just because I’m a Baltimoron but my rule is that the nickname should be retired when the team moves. The whole Colts/Browns/Ravens historical records are a mish-mash. While not a fan it would pain me to go to the NFL Hall of Fame and see Johnny Unitas in the Indianapolis exhibit.
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I was disappointed when the University of Hawaii dropped “Rainbow” from its teams’ name and became the Warriors.
But I think the very best school mascot is the Evergreen State College Geoducks. Especially if you’ve ever seen a geoduck (and know how to pronounce the word).
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College mascots do love being a bit silly or edgy. The classic one is the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slug. I ran across this Cracked article on silly sports team names.
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YJ, note that a “redskin” is also a popular peanut variety.
Serving raw jumbo redskin peanuts at games, endorsed by the peanut growers’ lobby, with a smiling Jimmy Carter on the bags, would resolve the issue [one way or another].
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Check out this Sporcle quiz for all 124 D-1 (FBS) college nicknames. I can’t remember how many I got when I did it (quite a while ago), probably around 70 or 80. But I have a buddy who is a college sports savant. I quizzed him one time and he got 121 of the 124.
Edit: I just did it again and got 71. The only one I should have gotten but didn’t was the Penn State. Total brain lock.
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that quiz is also good for the “name the colleges who’s teams don’t end with the letter ‘s'”
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Brent:
that quiz is also good for the “name the colleges who’s teams don’t end with the letter ‘s’”
Syracuse Orange, St. John’s Red Storm, Stanford Cardinal, Navy Midshipmen, Notre Dame [ethnic slur], Illinois [ethnic slur]….
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I got 70. All the ACC, all but one of the SEC, most of the Big Ten. The further west, the worse I got.
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I got 60; I probably should have had 70 but I had complete brain freeze on some of the Mountain West teams. . . and Army, of all things!
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