In a previous posting, I was scratching my head over the fact that the US Trade Commission had (retroactively) denied trademark protection to a sports team because "Redskins" was judged to be pejorative. The comments got so far off track that I closed them down - a first for me. So...let's talk about how insulting it is for Native Americans to have sports teams named after them, such as Chiefs, Redskins, Braves. Should those teams be required to change their names?
My personal opinion: I don't give a rat's ass. I'm not a sports fan and I don't care much what they call the teams. To me, we have a tempest in a teapot. In addition, I am prone to judging speech/labeling by intent and I fail to be a very sensitive person.
All of my life, strangers have been calling me "Red". While I didn't/don't like it, never once have I felt insulted. Intent is very important when it comes to that sort of thing. If someone called me a "dirty, rotten Redhead", I might feel differently. Well..even worse than being called "Red" is that Hunky Husband has called me by a shortened version of my real name (he uses the first syllable, for those blog friends who know my real name) for about 58 years, now - a name that I really, truly dislike. HH's whole family, and anyone to whom I have been introduced by HH, have always used the shorter version of my name. BUT...I know that he means/they mean no harm and that it is just easier for him/them to use one syllable instead of three, so I don't make an issue of it. And...one VP insisted upon calling me "Doll"! (I usually tell people once what I prefer and ignore whatever I'm called, thereafter.)
Moving along: one of my blog friends (in the previously mentioned comments) thought that I was excusing a practice without having a basis for judgment. Were I to have an opinion on the appropriateness of the name "Redskins", I would agree that I have little basis on which to form an opinion. Among my friends/acquaintances, there are a number of Native Americans - to varying degrees of inheritance. Since closing the comments to the previous posting I've had the opportunity to quiz two self-identified Native Americans on the whole thing. I asked if they thought the teams should be required to change their names.
Woman - Did not care one whit. She saw nothing insulting in the name "Redskins" and thought that people were getting upset over nothing. She volunteered that her husband (also Native American) didn't care a whole lot, but that he would be just as happy to have the name changed. BTW: She's a Kansas City Chiefs fan.
Man - Thought the whole thing silly. He's a sports fan. He didn't give a [obscenity omitted]. He felt that people were going out of their way to find insult where none was intended. (His wife is not a Native American so I won't include her thoughts.)
That's not a large sampling size, but it's a start.
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Historical tales to give you a laugh: 1) In grade school, I was terribly jealous of Ruth Sunday (and several other classmates) because she was 100% Native American. I believe that one of my 3X great-grandmothers was Cherokee [not enough for me to have bragging rights!] 2) Our teams in high school were the Knights - never once did anyone think we were insulting knights. 3) Back in the late 1970s, Bogie and I were driving in Oklahoma. Stopping to get directions, the two of us were salivating over the gorgeous cop from whom we asked directions. He was obviously pretty much 100% Native American and, to this day, Bogie and I agree that he was the best-looking guy we'd ever seen! *pant, pant*
My ex-husband and his roommate called me "Big Red from Dakota" when they first met me. I enjoyed the Damon-Runyonesque flavor, but my mother was horrified!! Now my girlfriend calls me "Tater," which I don't like much--who wants to be known as a potato??--but as you say, who gives a rat's ass?? (My mother wouldn't like that much, either...but she daid, as they say.)
Posted by: M.E. | June 26, 2014 at 05:43 PM
In primary school, the other kids nicknamed me "Pid". Took me YEARS to work out why :-(
Stu
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | June 26, 2014 at 10:36 PM
ME--I understand the first nickname, but the second? One of my profs in grad school called me el Rojo Grueso. I'm not sure whether he was talking about my brain or commenting on my stature (at 110 pounds, that didn't seem right for me). I told him (once) that he was allowed to call me el Rojo Grande.
Stu--Are we likely/expected to be able to figure out why you were called Pid, or do you plan to share with us? The only thing that comes immediately to mind is rather skanky/insulting to you.
Posted by: Cop Car | June 26, 2014 at 11:41 PM
To me Redskins is borderline but the other names clearly glorify the namesake. Or else they would not have used them. Here they protested the name of a school mascot because it was the Pioneers because that glorified white people. I do not see how pioneers could be bad because it praises pioneers but somehow Braves is bad because that makes fun of Indians? It is either one or the other. Some people just need something to whine about.
Ps I am sorry if my comments went too far on the previous Indian thread. Sometimes my passion for resisting political correctness borders on the bounds of bad taste.
Posted by: Ingineer66 | June 27, 2014 at 01:12 PM
Just as an aside, German kids grew up reading Winnetou, the Redskin, and they believed that Native Americans actually and literally had red skin.
Posted by: Hattie | June 27, 2014 at 02:54 PM
Seems a lot of people look so hard for things to be offended about (usually for someone else to). Team mascots are supposed to denote strength and substance; who would take seriously a football team called the Cloud 9's?
Posted by: bogie | June 28, 2014 at 07:13 AM
Peter Pan had a part about the Red Man and Princess Tiger Lilly. And in Hook and other modern adaptations they completely ignored that part of the story.
Posted by: Ingineer66 | June 28, 2014 at 09:29 AM
Ingineer66--You are definitely not alone. Many of us are capable of expounding on our own theories of politics and human behavior, beyond polite bounds. I certainly am - and do, at times! I'm not a Peter Pan fan, so I'll take your word for that.
P.S. I am given to understand that there were a fair number of black-skinned pioneers along with the hoard of white-skinned ones.
Hattie--From: What does Oklahoma mean?, "Oklahoma is based on Choctaw Indian words which translate as red people (okla meaning "people" and humma meaning "red"). Recorded history for the name "Oklahoma" began with Spanish explorer Coronado in 1541 on his quest for the "Lost City of Gold." Oklahoma became the 46th state on November 16, 1907." BTW: My Native American friends tell me that when they (or many other Native Americans) spend time in the sun, their skins are definitely reddish!
Bogie--Well, then there were "Chuck's Chicks"!
Posted by: Cop Car | June 28, 2014 at 10:27 AM
You are correct. In Northern California, we have the town of Beckwourth and Beckwourth Pass, and trail all named for a pioneer that was a freed slave.
Posted by: Ingineer66 | June 29, 2014 at 12:23 PM
Ingineer--Here in Kansas we have an unincorporated community, Nicodemus, about which the National Park Service posts: "Go to Kansas"
"Formerly enslaved African Americans left Kentucky in organized colonies at the end of the of post-Civil War Reconstruction period to experience freedom in the "promised land" of Kansas. Nicodemus represents the involvement of African Americans in the westward expansion and settlement of the Great Plains. It is the oldest and only remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi River."
The population of Nicodemus is currently about two dozen - half of which are Black. Beckwourth is considerably more populous.
Interesting about Beckwourth CA, thanks. According to Wikipedia, "Beckwourth (formerly, Beckwith)[3] is a census-designated place (CDP) in Plumas County, California, United States.[4]" Interestingly, it further gives the demographics of Beckworth to be, "The 2010 United States Census[8] reported that Beckwourth had a population of 432. The population density was 37.0 people per square mile (14.3/km²). The racial makeup of Beckwourth was 402 (93.1%) White, 0 (0.0%) African American, 11 (2.5%) Native American, 2 (0.5%) Asian, 1 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 7 (1.6%) from other races, and 9 (2.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 29 persons (6.7%)."
Posted by: Cop Car | June 29, 2014 at 04:40 PM
The town is named after him because it is on the Beckwouth Trail. He did not settle there. It was before the Civil War when he came to California.
Posted by: Ingineer66 | June 29, 2014 at 05:03 PM
Ingineer--Well, of course! You had written as much, before. Thanks for reinforcing your point.
Posted by: Cop Car | June 30, 2014 at 07:05 AM
Sorry to beat a dead horse. I thought you were posting the demographics of Beckwourth because you were comparing it to the settlement you referred to. My misunderstanding.
Posted by: Ingineer66 | June 30, 2014 at 05:31 PM
Ingineer--Thanks for being so willing to shoulder the "blame"; but, I was comparing the two. I either did not read your original comment well, or between reading it and writing my comment I forgot exactly what you had said. At that, I'll let the dust settle and just say that I appreciated your hanging in there with me until I got the picture. Thanks!
Posted by: Cop Car | July 02, 2014 at 07:49 AM