Quote:
Originally Posted by Trumbull
Look at the polls. Do you really think that many people would be willing to accept a name they thought was truly offensive? I'm not that cynical, that's for sure. Trying to inject reason into a debate on this subject is clearly a task of futility. It's all about how cool it is to find things to be offended by, and of course tell people who disagree they're racist, lol.
|
Let's work on the premise that the polls accurately depict the belief of the American people.
They're not relevant.
If Native Americans believe the term is offensive, then it's offensive. In the 1890's if you polled the American people asking them if they thought the term N*gger was offensive, I bet the majority would say 'no'.
If I think it's not offensive to call a Chinese person a ch*nk, that doesn't mean it's not offensive, nor does it not mean it's not derogatory, nor does it mean it's not a slur.
Democratic societies are run on the philosophy "majority rules; minority rights". Assuming your polls are correct, you're missing the second part… minority rights.
Native Americans are offended by the use of a racial slur as a professional sports team's name. Why should society let the tyranny of the majority rule?
That said, if you want healthy debate on the subject you have to answer the questions I posed above. The questions use various logical parallels, all of them different, so your answers (and those who agree the name should remain) are very important to the debate and it's direction.
For efficiency sake I post them again here:
1. If the NFL was expanding into a new market, let's say the Mississippi N*ggers. Would that be an acceptable team name?
2. Would your opinion change if the Mississippi N*ggers had a century of tradition including three Super Bowl championships?
3. What if the Atlanta Falcons were sold and the new owner wanted to demonstrate there's a new era in Georgia football and renamed the team the Atlanta N*ggers. Would that be acceptable?
4. Would the identity and history of the Chicago White Sox be drastically different if they dropped the Sox from their name? What if they corrected the name's spelling?