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Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout
If people grew up with a sports franchise with a long and rich tradition that was unfortunately named the N*ggers, but when people referred to the team it was in the sense of sport and not the degradation of a race then the degradation loses it's meaning in context and therefore would be acceptable.
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That's very different since N... is commonly accepted as being a slur for years. Redskins might be at worst more similar to calling an African American a negro or black. And is also on the same level as calling a Native American an Indian. All words that have roots in describing a skin color, and all words that did not start out as being slurs.
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Now all that said, there is debate on who determines what a racial slur. I don't believe the majority gets to decide what a slur is, but the race that's being degragated. While there are conflicting non-scientific polls saying varying degrees of Native Americans are ok with the term Redskin, the following tribes have spoken out against it:
Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
Comanche Nation of Oklahoma
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Washington)
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (Michigan)
Hoh Indian Tribe
Inter Tribal Council of Arizona
Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes
Juaneño Band of Mission Indians (California)
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians (Michigan)
Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, Gun Lake Tribe (Michigan)
Menominee Tribe of Indians (Wisconsin)
Oneida Indian Nation (New York)
Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin
Na###o Nation Council
Penobscot Nation
Poarch Band of Creek Indians
Samish Indian Nation (Washington)
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (Michigan)
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (Idaho)
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (North Dakota)
The Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (North Dakota)
United South and Eastern Tribes (USET)
The following Native American organizations have spoken out against the term Redskin:
Advocates for American Indian Children (California)
American Indian Mental Health Association (Minnesota)
American Indian Movement
American Indian Opportunities Industrialization Center of San Bernardino County
American Indian Student Services at the Ohio State University
American Indian High Education Consortium
American Indian College Fund
Americans for Indian Opportunity
Association on American Indian Affairs
Buncombe County Native American Inter-tribal Association (North Carolina)
Capitol Area Indian Resources (Sacramento, CA)
Concerned American Indian Parents (Minnesota)
Council for Indigenous North Americans (University of Southern Maine)
Eagle and Condor Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance
First Peoples Worldwide
Fontana Native American Indian Center, Inc. (California)
Governor’s Interstate Indian Council
Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission
Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council (Wisconsin)
HONOR – Honor Our Neighbors Origins and Rights
Kansas Association for Native American Education
Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs
Medicine Wheel Inter-tribal Association (Louisiana)
Minnesota Indian Education Association
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
National Indian Child Welfare Association
National Indian Education Association
National Indian Youth Council
National Native American Law Student Association
Native American Caucus of the California Democratic Party
Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA)
Native American Journalists Association
Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio
Native American Journalists Association
Native American Rights Fund (NARF)
Native Voice Network
Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi (Michigan)
North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs
North Dakota Indian Education Association
Office of Native American Ministry, Diocese of Grand Rapids (Michigan)
Ohio Center for Native American Affairs
San Bernardino/Riverside Counties Native American Community Council
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
Society of Indian Psychologists of the Americas
Southern California Indian Center
St. Cloud State University – American Indian Center
Tennessee Chapter of the National Coalition for the Preservation of Indigenous Cultures
Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs
Tennessee Native Veterans Society
Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Unified Coalition for American Indian Concerns, Virginia
The United Indian Nations of Oklahoma
Virginia American Indian Cultural Resource Center
Wisconsin Indian Education Association
WIEA “Indian” Mascot and Logo Taskforce (Wisconsin)
Woodland Indian Community Center-Lansing (Michigan)
Youth “Indian” Mascot and Logo Task force (Wisconsin)
In mind that meets the requirement to say Redskin is a racial slur.
So we get to context.
Should a team be named after a racial slur? Even if the name has been around for generations?
If the people who the slur is against want it changed, then it should be changed. The tribes and groups above want it changed.
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What's the source of that list? The few organizations I Googled seem to not even have a web presence except to be listed as against Native American mascots in general. Does that list represent the majority of Native Americans? The movement from within that community seems to be against all types of names and mascots, so that does not really prove that they think it is a slur.
I think that brings up a different argument entirely, and that is whether all Native American team names and mascots and Tomahawk chops should be eliminated? And that seemed to be the argument that started 15-20 years ago. Maybe they should be. But I'd still like to have some kind of accurate poll of what that community really thinks. Maybe the majority are sports fans and actually feel well represented by some of the names and logos. When this movement started, no one was talking about Redskins being a slur. It is only over the last 2-3 years that some people decided to start calling it a slur.