Native Americans Challenge Mascot Names

[The Straight Story]

Native Americans Challenge Mascot Names

POSTED: 2:10 pm CDT August 11, 2006

TULSA, Okla. -- American Indians have filed a new challenge to the Washington Redskins' trademark, saying the NFL team's name is racially offensive, speakers at the Native American Journalists Association national convention said Friday.

A petition to cancel the trademark has been filed with a board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, said Suzan Shown Harjo, president of the Morning Star Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that advances Indian causes.

"There is no compromise with racism," Harjo said. "Power concedes nothing. You have to go in and make change happen."
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The office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board backed a similar petition filed in 1992. That decision was overturned on appeal, but the door was left open for another attempt to invalidate the trademark, Harjo said.

http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/9667831/detail.html

[Kutjara]

1. "Power concedes nothing. You have to go in and make change happen."

Words to live by, those. We could all benefit from living by them.

[Odin2005]

2. Can't a private business call themselves anything they want?

[theHandpuppet]

3. Legally or Morally?

Would you support a team that called itself the Washington Wops? Or the San Francisco Spics? Or anything equally offensive? All's fair in love or business?

"Redskins" is a frigging racist term and I simply find it mind boggling that because it's a damn football team people get so defensive about an owner's right to name his team anything he pleases. Legally he may well have that right. It's still hateful.

[Odin2005]

7. Of course I don't supprt the name.

I think it should be changed, but the team is a private business so it's the owner's decision what the name is.

This is one of the few places where I think a name change is good, because the name is obviously derogutory. In a lot of other places the name change petions are just stupid. The University of North Dakota has been under constant pressure to change it's nickname "Fighting Souix", a name one would have to be a moran to consider derogutory.

[LWolf]

4. Maybe.

Are NFL teams private businesses? If so, why do so many tax dollars go towards paying for their facilities, and why do they seem to be for sale to the highest city bidder?

A different issue, really.

If a local business tried to get a license for a name including a racial epithet, would it be approved?

[kineneb]

5. no more Vikings, either

I like my ancestors! Hand me that oar, Olaf, I gonna pound a football player with it.

[theHandpuppet]

6. "Vikings" is not a racist term in the same sense as "Redskins"

I don't even mind mascots such as the Seminoles or Chiefs. But "Redskins" is derogatory and racist. However, if there are people here of Scandanavian origin who find the term "Vikings" insulting, I'd respect their opinion.

[kineneb]

8. "redskins" gotta go

I mentioned the Vikings because, well yes, some of my ancestors were Norwegian...and I got all the Scandinavian recessive genes.

A local high school here dropped the name "Indians" as being offensive. If that is offensive, then sports teams can't have "Vikings" either, unless they have a bunch of big, tall blond guys named Olaf, Bjorn or Sven on the roster. That's all.

[eridani]

9. Howzabout a deal? The Vikings change their name to

the Squareheads, and "Redskins" can stay as is, 'kay?