Washington Redskins...

Saw this in an email the other day and curious if there are any comments:

The federal government, which has Tomahawk cruise missiles and Apache
and Lakota helicopters, and used the code name "Geronimo" in the attack
that killed Osama bin Laden........ officially objects to the name of the
Washington Redskins???

 

I wasn't aware Lakota and Apache are considered racial slurs.

 

Neither apparently was Redskins at the time the Native American coach picked that name way back when.

 

But it is now.

 

I wonder when was the last time that an American Indian was ever called a "redskin", in either a disparaging, or affectionate manner. When exactly was this term used at all?

 

Redskins is a racial slur.

What a ignorant comparison.

It demonstrates an complete lack of understanding of the concept of racism.

 

Here's some dialogue written by Simon Waxman, managing editor of Boston Review


In the United States today, the names Apache, Comanche, Chinook, Lakota, Cheyenne and Kiowa apply not only to Indian tribes but also to military helicopters. Add in the Black Hawk, named for a leader of the Sauk tribe. Then there is the Tomahawk, a low-altitude missile, and a drone named for an Indian chief, Gray Eagle. Operation Geronimo was the end of Osama bin Laden.

Why do we name our battles and weapons after people we have vanquished? For the same reason the Washington team is the Redskins and my hometown Red Sox go to Cleveland to play the Indians and to Atlanta to play the Braves: because the myth of the worthy native adversary is more palatable than the reality — the conquered tribes of this land were not rivals but victims, cheated and impossibly outgunned.

The destruction of the Indians was asymmetric war, compounded by deviousness in the name of imperialist manifest destiny. White America shot, imprisoned, lied, swindled, preached, bought, built and voted its way to domination. Identifying our powerful weapons and victorious campaigns with those we subjugated serves to lighten the burden of our guilt. It confuses violation with a fair fight.

​It is worse than denial; it is propaganda. The message carried by the word Apache emblazoned on one of history’s great fighting machines is that the Americans overcame an opponent so powerful and true that we are proud to adopt its name. They tested our mettle, and we proved stronger, so don’t mess with us. In whatever measure it is tribute to the dead, it is in greater measure a boost to our national sense of superiority. And this message of superiority is shared not just with U.S. citizens but with those of the 14 nations whose governments buy the Apache helicopters we sell. It is shared, too, with those who hear the whir of an Apache overhead or find its guns trained on them. Noam Chomsky has clarified the moral stakes in provocative, instructive terms: “We might react differently if the Luftwaffe were to call its fighter planes ‘Jew’ and ‘Gypsy.’ ”

If the native tribes did not stand a chance, this does not imply lack of resistance or of courage; regardless, it doesn’t much matter in this context. Whatever courage they had, the U.S. military is not heir to it. If honor matters to the members of our armed forces, they will agree.

 

I remember hearing the word 'redskin' on old western movies on TV...even by John Wayne...I think.

 

Neither was the term "redskin". The origin comes from early settlers in Massachusetts, which described the Delaware Indians, who in fact painted their skin red.

The origin of the term "redskin" wasn't a pejorative until westward expansion in the late 1800's.

 

Read post #7...it appears I'm not the only 'ignorant' person.

If you wish to get picky and insulting, then above in bold your 'a' should have been 'an' and your 'an' should have been 'a'.

Redskin was used to identify a Native American Indian just as Black can be used to identify an African American...the word 'black' is used freely today along with 'white' and 'brown' and 'yellow', etc. Either all of them are incorrect or all of them are correct...which is it?

 

Just who has decided that the name Redskin has anything racist about it. Probably generated out of the brain damaged PC crowd. Therefore who gives a schidt.?

 

IMHO, I doubt most liberals know the true meaning of the term " Racist". They only know enough to throw the term around when it suits them.

 

23 Native American tribes and dozens of Native American organizations seem to think it's just a bit racist. The real question is, why do some people feel the need to defend an offensive and stupid name.

 

Ohh goody, when does "red man" chewing tobacco get their asses chewed?

 

Says who? All this PC garbage must GO...

 

Which means it's the people who have changed, not the name. Thus the name is still fine. And the people need to get over it.

How do you feel about the Mexican restaurant Gringos?

Because it's already a well-established brand name. And nobody gave a (*)(*)(*)(*) for almost a century until a bunch of persnickety white liberal agitators suddenly decided they wanted to get upset about it. It's not like they didn't notice it for 80 years. It just wasn't a big deal until they had devolved to a point of sheer pettiness where their sole purpose for existing became progressive PC witch hunts.

You do realize this would have never become a national issue if it weren't for white liberals, right? They are the vast majority of the people who are offended by this. Since Native Americans only make up approximately 2% of the country's population.

 

Or Redman the rapper?

Are kids now going to be forced to play redneck bigots and oppressed Native Americans?

Exactly how far are we going to take this?

 

That is all very nice I'm sure but unless the tea party has finished their time machine we are, and will continue, living in the 21st century - not the 'good ol' days' of the 17th.

Boy, just wait 'til you hear about some of the things you can't call black people anymore!

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...b11eee-374f-11e3-ae46-e4248e75c8ea_story.html

NO ONE has ever accused Charlie Krauthammer of being a liberal, leftist, politically correct, kumbaya guy. He hates Obama with the most rabid of 'em but he is spot on about this. Really great article.

 

I wonder how true patriots would like renaming some teams like the Carolina Crackers, Atlanta Peckerwoods, Texas Trailer Trash, Memphis Rednecks or Oklahoma City Ofay? All as part of their heritage, history and traditions of course.

 

Your hypersensitivity is your problem, not mine.

Any other random words you feel the need to cry over??

 

Where'd you get the 'hypersensitive' thing? Hey,I didn't start the thread, brother. Some old timer who seems upset about not being able to use 'Redskin' did.

'Random words'? Huh? No savvy, kemosabe.

 

They're going to take it all the way Unifier until we are under Sharia law. And yes they are already being forced to play it without knowing it.

 

Come on all, there is a simple solution to this issue. Just rename the name in honor the the politicians in D.C. and simply replace the RED portion with FORE.

 

So when do we have to change the name of the state of Oklahoma? After all It is Cherokee for land of the Redman. By the way do you have any idea how man Indian tribes there are?