by: Richard Boadu
Last night, The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation of northern California paid for a “Proud to Be” commercial that aired during the NBA Finals last night.
I’m not really sure why this is even a discussion. Is the nickname, Redskins, offensive? Yes. Okay, so if it’s offensive why doesn’t Dan Snyder change the name? Why do some fans want to keep the name and why do others not care?
The team was founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves and changed their name to Redskins a year later. Now, I wasn’t born in 1932 so I can’t say this for certain, but I don’t think those were the most racially progressive times for America, just a hunch. A 2013 recent poll found that 79% of Americans didn’t have a problem with the term Redskins. Oh, that’s nice. I have a few questions though, who did they interview? White people, Black people, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans? Also, it really doesn’t matter who they interviewed if enough Native Americans feel insulted by the name. And even if some Native Americans don’t take offense to the nickname that doesn’t make it right. As a black male, I know better than to use the “n” word. I still use it at least 20x a day, and I know it’s not right, and I definitely will get offended if someone outside my race uses that word.
And why would you want to keep the name? Don’t tell me tradition. What does tradition even mean? “We’ve been doing this so long, we’re not going to change.” Women weren’t voting for the longest. Black people were enslaved. Had those “traditions” not changed we wouldn’t have a Black president now and the possible chance of our first female president in two more years.
I laugh when I read quotes from Redskins owner, Dan Snyder, stating that he’ll never change the name. Sure he owns the team, he can do what he wants with it. I’m still not sure why the NFL hasn’t just stepped in and done something, but let me not get on a tangent. On the surface, it makes sense why Snyder doesn’t want to change the name. He was born and raised in Maryland and more than likely sang “Hail to the Redskins” in his sleep. So it was possibly his childhood dream to own the Redskins and changing the name would distort his dream that’s become his reality. I get it. What I don’t get that as a Jewish man, Snyder, doesn’t understand why people would be offended and why he’s so stubborn about changing the name.
The nickname has been around for 81 years, that doesn’t mean it’s been right. Not all traditions are good. The nickname Redskins doesn’t honor Native Americans it disrespects them. I’m not surprised that Snyder and many other Americans don’t understand what the big deal is and want to fight idiots to keep the name. It’s our tradition as Americans to ignore other ethnicities sensitivities, be disrespectful, and live and lose by our “Get Over It” mantra.
Seriously, let’s just change the damn name. Doesn’t Washington Warriors have a nice ring to it?