The “R” Word: NFL Time to Change the Name
“Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles of racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.”
– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can’t Wait , 1963
The N word is on it’s way to the waste-bin of history where it belongs. Even Don Young apologized for using that W word for Latinos. No one uses that C word slur for Asians. It’s not ok to call Jews the K word.
We no longer live in a John Wayne western. It’s offensive. It’s derogatory. Let’s get rid of it.
Let’s tell Daniel Snyder the owner of that Washington DC football team that he’s wrong when he says: “The name was never a label. It was, and continues to be, a badge of honor.”
Video from the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
A powerful visual and poetic take on the same issue
(not for those easily offended- the poet does some flips here which might be shocking to some)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nfir23yX08
“”Redsk*ns”
has been a focus of national and international media. The legacy of racism
which was established by the team’s owner, George Preston Marshall, is an important component to the story oft he Washington football team name,
in addition to its violent origins in American popular culture.
The term originates from a time when Native people were actively hunted and killed for bounties, and their
skins were used as proof of Indian kill 16
Bounties were issued by European companies, colonies, and some
states, most notably California.
By the turn of the 20thcentury it had evolved to become a term meant to
disparage and denote inferiority and savagery in American culture.
By 1932, the word had been a term of
commodification and a commentary on the color of a body part. It was not then and is not now an honorific.
In1932, the term was selected as the new name of the Boston Braves by the team’s
new owner, George Preston Marshall considered the league’s most
notorious racist owner in the formative years of the NFL. 17″
p10 of 29
http://www.ncai.org/attachments/PolicyPaper_mijApMoUWDbjqFtjAYzQWlqLdrwZvsYfakBwTHpMATcOroYolpN_NCAI_Harmful_Mascots_Report_Ending_the_Legacy_of_Racism_10_2013.pdf
There are some legitimate concerns amongst native peoples that Proud to Be misses some important marks but, by and large, it is a powerful and effective piece.
I hope it helps effect a needed shift in the way folks view native peoples , especially as regards the sicko mascot/franchising a derogatory term routines.
Thanks for posting this, Zach. One of my native friends sent me the video earlier today, and I posted it to FB. Btw, the possessive of it is its, no apostrophe. It’s means “it is” or “it has.” I mention this as someone who loves and appreciates you, and wants you to be and do your best.