Should the Washington Redskins change their name?

[southernleftylady]

because some american indians are offended by the name?
and some might say "its to honor them" but if some are offended by it .. is it truely to honor them?
your thoughts?
and yes i stole this from jerry spinger ;)
and just to add this in the mix...
nig·*** n. Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a Black person:
red·skin n. Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a Native American.

websters.com
its exactly the same meaning.. just to diffrent groups of people... i dont think that anyone here would want a N***** football team.. we wouldnt accept that at all... so why redskins?

[CatWoman]

1. this conversation comes up every couple months

and I always side with Native Americans.

[aden_nak]

2. Our high school mascot were the "Redskins".

Eventually, they did change it, specificly to avoid referencing any American Indians. Ironicly, they changed it to "Redhawks" which (unbeknownst to them) is not a real bird, but is the translated name for a particular tribe of American Indians.

[bunkerbuster1]

3. Yes, absolutely.

It may be petty of me, but I always root for whoever's playing the Redskins. the name is disgusting.

(When you think about it, the "Fighting Irish" is a pretty disgusting name, too, albeit for very different reasons.)

[KelleyKramer]

4. oh Puh-lease, what about the ...

This has come up on a regular basis for over 10 years now.

When put into context its kind of silly.

What about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish?

Are the New England 'Patriots' an insult to our founding fathers?

The Indiana Hoosiers.. The Illinois fighting Illini ..

I could go on, but you get the point.

[southernleftylady]

5. Do you use the "N" word?

[OrlandoGator]

6. There's a difference between a tribute and a slur.

I don't find anything wrong with naming a team after a tribe, but to name a team after a racial slur is unacceptable.

By the way, I'm a lifelong diehard NFL fan.

[southernleftylady]

7. exactly a tribe or a persons name would be fine.but this is a slur! nt

[zanne]

8. oh Puh-lease, they're only team names.

They can be changed alot easier than the resentments of an entire race or ethnic class. Change the damn names and be done with it. Who cares what a team is called? It's only sports.

[patricia92243]

9. Can teams be named other minority groups/people names? Such as

"The Picaninnies" - which is an old-time name for black children "The Queers" "The Deformed" and so forth and so on?

[hemp_not_war]

10. no it's a complement

I think most Indians feel this way

[OrlandoGator]

11. No way. There should also be San Diego Wetbacks and New York Niggers.

Sarcasm alert activated.

[RPM]

15. i would root for those teams

might even by a tee-shirt too!

[barb162]

12. well, would Blackskins or Yellowskins be slurs?

I think so, so Redskins or any hint of a slur on any racial group should be taken out of the name of the team.

[devilgrrl]

13. Yes. It should be changed to the Washington Crackers

:evilgrin:

[peacebaby3]

14. Absolutely!

I have very strong feelings about this subject.

Not only should the redskins change their name, but so should all other teams that use an entire race of people as a mascot. It's shameful.

Have you seen the goofy mascot for the Cleveland Indians? It's insulting.

The Atlanta Braves actually go so far as to have an "indian" that dances around chanting and have all of their fans doing a "tomahawk chop." Native American pow wows and dancing are a very sacred spiritual part of their culture and when this is done it is mocking their beliefs.

There is a high school on a Rez (sorry, I can't remember where) that named their basketball team the "whites" and has a mascot that is a goofy looking white guy wearing a tie. I think that sums up how they feel about being a sports team's mascot.

[RPM]

16. or Notre Dame

an irish guy with his fists up - what are they implying???

[ibegurpard]

17. Don't care

I'm fine with it if they change the name and I'm fine with it if they don't.

[Kraklen]

18. Yup.

Obviously.

[DaveinMD]

19. They should change their logo to the potato

then they could keep the name redskins since the reference point would be the Redskin potato.

[oasis]

20. The NBA 's Washington Bullets changed their name to the "Wizards" because

bullets has a negative connotation. The city didn't go into a frenzy over it.

The Stanford University "Indians" are now the "Cardinal". No muss, no fuss.

I say, change the name.

[RPM]

21. feh - those teams all sucked anyway

thats why no one cared..... hee hee hee

[minerva50]

22. Change it.

I've heard people claim it honors brave Indian warriors, but look at the context the word has been used in. I've never heard or read references to "brave redskins," or "noble redskins" it's more like "dirty", "drunken", or "lazy." It's a slur.

[Seeker30]

23. Its stuff like this

that gives the right ammunition to call liberals whiney babies. The term 'Redskin' is only racist or degrading if you label it as such. Is the term blackskin racist? Why should it be? If people have black skin they are black skinned, so what. Recently I've been hearing the word mexican is racist, why? It is no different than calling someone american.
This political correctiveness drives me up the wall.

Besides they are privately owned and can call them whatever they like, if you dont like it then dont spend money on anything that has to do with the NFL or the Washington Redskins.