By Any Other Name
I’ve been a Washington Redskins fan since before Daniel Snyder was born and I genuinely appreciate his arguments for keeping the team name. But I think it needs changing.
Back in the 1950s, my grandfather and I would sit in front of his old Philco TV and watch the only pro football available in South Carolina back then: the Skins.
They mostly lost. But I learned to love watching the games, especially with my grandfather. I became a diehard Skins fan and have been one more than 50 years. My grandfather is long gone, but I still watch with my children and soon, I hope, my two grandchildren.
In all that time, I have never meant to offend Native Americans. I’m sure that is true for almost everyone.
So I agree that using the name isn’t intended to cause offense.
As a journalist, I also recognize that words can have different meanings in different contexts. One can reasonably believe that, to millions of fans, “Redskins” has actually become a different word from the one used to slur Native Americans, a term that just happens to be spelled the same as a bad word.
After all, even “ball” can be seen as two separate words, one of them X-rated.
Still, I strongly believe the name should be changed. All those decades ago, I was also taught (besides to love the Skins) to try to appreciate and value others’ concerns, sometimes above my own.
To many of us, “Redskins” simply designates the name of a beloved team, no more, no less. But to almost everyone else, it is a nasty epithet. How can we not see their point?
Continuing to use the name Redskins utterly disrespects the dignity and humanity of millions of people. The word drips with scorn – even if not intended. The use of Indian-related images and paraphernalia makes clear that the name remains, in fact, within its ugly context. Using it is mean and wrong.
Mr. Snyder and others cite polls showing that many people, including many and perhaps most Native Americans, don’t care about the name.
But that doesn’t make our use of it any less disrespectful.
Using the name hurts people, mocks common courtesy, and demeans us all. Changing it wouldn’t hurt anyone.
I’d probably prefer just using the name Skins. But in a year or two, I think, we’d get used to almost any suitable name, just as we get used to a new actor playing James Bond every few years.
My loyalty to Washington football isn’t to the name of the team. It is to the team. It is to the name of the game and the bonding with family and friends that sports can nurture.
The longer the name stays, the more it sours everything. To persist in disrespecting others, once the disrespect has been pointed out, can seem worse than the original offense.
I don’t think Mr. Snyder or anyone else means the name to be insulting. And few of us want to live in a world where you can’t say anything controversial or disagreeable. But wherever you draw the line, this word crosses it. Once you realize that, it is inexcusable not to change.
