[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

My bias is that of a Redskin fan. They are our local team, and the name has a lot of tradition, and tradition is important in sports. The context for us, is that of being proud of the team and logo (even if they have sucked lately). While I agree, it is not what we think that necessarily matters, it does go to explain our mindset.

I don't think there would be a large resistance to changing the logo, but that doesn't seem like it would satisfy anyone.

This is actually an interesting (and valid) viewpoint to me. But the argument on tradition is also curious since the Washington Bullets were renamed after 34 years. Of course, the big difference in that case is that it was the team owner who initiated the call for a change, making it a fait accompli.

Unfortunately for supporters of the current name, I don't think this issue is going away.

I think that most everyone agrees that it is not a slur that is ever used today. And 3-4 years ago, no one was calling it a slur. At some point during the last few years, people started saying it was a slur from the 1800s, and my take is that it got repeated enough that people started accepting it as fact. So point out any literature, or anything credible that shows that people were using it as a slur during that time and I would be satisfied.

I don't have the 19th century research, but the concern over the name is not a problem that has existed for only 3-4 years. There have been protests against the use of Native American nicknames (The Redskins name was a focus then too) since at least the 1960s, including significant ones in 1988 and the early 1990s. The controversy has certainly become pointed in recent years, but this is a long running dispute. Of note, the Univeristy of Utah dropped its "Redskins" nickname 40 years ago because it was viewed as derogatory.


I will also add this story to serve as a counterpoint to Erick Estrada's Slate article from the first page of this thread: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/true-redskins-meaning

And the follow-up: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/redskin-name-update

“I’m really not that interested in where the word comes from,” Gover said. “I know how it was used. And it’s been used in a disparaging way for at least a couple of centuries. Up to and including the time I was growing up in Oklahoma.”