Is the name "Redskins" racist? Some democrats think so....

[NoStateofMind]

link

A group of Democrats introduced legislation to the House Wednesday that would implicitly require the Washington Redskins football team to change its name.
The Non-Disparagement of American Indians in Trademark Registrations Act of 2013, co-sponsored by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, would prevent the term “Redskins” from being trademarked and would erode profits to the team by allowing other businesses to sell apparel and goods featuring the name, The Hill reports.
Just a couple weeks ago Ms. Norton and Rep. John Lewis, of Georgia, urged the Washington Redskins to change its name to a federal trademark panel.
“Nobody would let a comparable name to blacks stand,” Ms. Norton told the panel. “I am a fan of the Redskins. I’m just not a fan of their name.”
The Redskins have declined to comment, The Hill reports.

Ahh the smell of a politically correct world. Isn't it grand? Not in my opinion. Do people just walk around and say "Hey, your words hurt me! Officer get him! Court get him!". Sad we have devolved into a society full of crybabies.

 

[nehalem256]

Maybe the they should change their name to the Washington Whiteskins just to make a point.

 

[desura]

Technically, it is racist.

But...it's not meant to be racist or meant to be done in a derogatory way. And these names are assumed to honor the native americans. No one thinks worse of native americans because of these sports teams.

 

[fskimospy]

Technically, it is racist.

But...it's not meant to be racist or meant to be done in a derogatory way. And these names are assumed to honor the native americans. No one thinks worse of native americans because of these sports teams.

Yes of course it is racist, but I would have to say that the person who is the target of the racial stereotype should probably be the one who can judge if it negatively affects their lives.

I have no idea why they don't just change the name to the Skins. It's what a lot of people call them already and then they don't need to have a big racist stereotype on the side of their helmets.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Maybe the they should change their name to the Washington Whiteskins just to make a point.

What another name that doesn't match the color majority of the team?

 

[Zorba]

What another name that doesn't match the color majority of the team?

Well people would really have a problem with the name "Blackskins"

 

[Anarchist420]

The Democrats offended their own dumb selves since they're the ones who keep the NFL perpetual via perpetual IP and subsidies.

 

[berzerker60]

It's not a "Democrats" thing, it's a "everyone knows this is pretty racist but we kind of let it slide because it would cost a lot of money to change it" thing.

The best proposal I've heard is to change it to the Washington Pigskins. Then everyone can keep their 'Skins' merchandise.

 

[Orignal Earl]

We should change the name of P&N to "Angry White Boys Club"

 

[boomerang]

Are potatoes racist?

Democrats will ruin our nation if we let them. If we do, we deserve what we get.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

It is racist, but I don't really care (not a football fan either).

 

[nextJin]

This seems to come up every decade or so, nothing usually comes of it.

 

[Matt1970]

They already tried this a while back with no success.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Ahh that takes me back to Chris Rock on SNL Weekend Update long ago.

A transcript since I can't find a clip that works in Canada!

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/90/90cupdate.phtml

Chris Rock: Thank you, Dennis! Next week, Evander Holyfield fights Buster Douglas for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Now, I went to place a bet on the fight, and I found out that Evander Holyfield is the favorite! I have nothing against Evander, but didn't Buster Douglas knock Mike Tyson out? Doesn't that mean anything? What does a guy have to do to be favorite - kill Godzilla? Now, I'm at home the other night watching some old boxing movies, and by far the strangest one had to be "Rocky IV". I'm sitting there thinking to myself, "Two white guys fighting for the Heavyweight Championship of the World? Boy, that Spielberg's something else!" I mean, let's face it: white guys cannot box! Black guys fight better. Puerto Ricans fight even better. I guess the lower you go on the social ladder, the better you fight. For every good Puerto Rican fighter, there's an American Indian waiting to kick his ass! I feel so sorry for the Indians, man, because we took.. well, we didn't take.. you people took their land, and now they have nothing. Everybody exploits the Indians - you've got Mazola commercials, you've got "F-Troop", the Washington Redskins.. Washington Redskins, that's not nice! That's a racial slur! That's kind of like having the New York N*****s, okay? [ sighs ] Uh, Dennis, what was I talking about?

 

[Nintendesert]

There's too much money in it. The Redskins are one of the top 3 NFL franchises and one of the biggest sports franchises in the world. Unless there's some sort of court order I don't see the owner willingly changing the name.

 

[Fern]

Is it racist?

It certainly wasn't intended as such. The name was adopted to honor its coach, Lone Star Dietz, a native American.

It appears the origin of the word was not racist. It was how early native Americans referred to themselves. Below is a link to a paper on the history of the term authored by Ives Goddard, a Senior Linguist in the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

http://anthropology.si.edu/goddard/beloved patriot.pdf

Has it morphed into a racial term/epitaph? IDK, I've never heard it used that way.

Fern

 

[Incorruptible]

It isn't racist but its just the usual suspects who are too PC and are total morons. This is a horrible violation of free speech and those idiot democrats and their supporters need to give their heads a shake.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Yes of course it is racist, but I would have to say that the person who is the target of the racial stereotype should probably be the one who can judge if it negatively affects their lives.

I have no idea why they don't just change the name to the Skins. It's what a lot of people call them already and then they don't need to have a big racist stereotype on the side of their helmets.

As someone who is part Cherokee I can't imagine this being anything to get upset over. Trail of Tears? Reservations? Gross incompetence on the part of those administering treaty obligations? Sure. Redskins? Nope.

 

[IronWing]

Just wait until they go after the Packers. :whiste:

 

[BudAshes]

The indians are way more racist than the redskins. Even their logo was a racist caricature.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

It's only racist to racists.

 

[nehalem256]

So should the New England Patriots have to change their name for being anti-american? :whiste:

 

[Greenman]

We should change the name of P&N to "Angry White Boys Club"

I'm pretty sure a bunch in here aren't white, I know for sure that we have at least one black female (I don't understand it either), and one fellow is from another planet.

I think it should be changed to "angry troglodytes club", that would be more accurate.

 

[Phokus]

So should the New England Patriots have to change their name for being anti-american? :whiste:

This doesn't even make any fucking sens-- oh another nehalem post.

 

[BoomerD]

Is it racist? Not any more than if they changed the name to "Washington Blackies" to reflect the demographics of the area...