Things you can count on: Death, Taxes and someone complaining about the name of the beloved Redskins. I don’t blame President Obama for raising the issue. If I were the President and fumbling through my fifth year like a rookie, I, too, would be trying to divert attention to mundane matters like the name of the Washington Redskins.
Obama said, if he were the owner of the Redskins, he would think about changing the name. If he were the owner, and ran the Washington Redskins the way he is running the country, he wouldn’t have to change the name. The famous franchise would collapse faster than Solyndra and there would be no Washington Redskins.
Bob Costas used his two minutes of half-time, prime-time to say that the name Redskins was an insult and a slur. Of course the Redskins have been around since 1933 and all the fans, including many Native Americans, have been honoring the team. I’m sure Bob Costas has been referring to the Washington team as the Redskins on radio and TV for at least 30 years. I guess it was alright for him to use that “insult” or “slur” for all that time and now, to become righteous. Hallelujah. The scales have fallen from my eyes.
I will say that the term redskin can be used in a derogatory manner. So can Yankee. Believe me, there are thousands and thousands of people in this country that use the name Yankee as an insult. I’ve been called a Yankee when it was definitely intended as an insult, a slur. What’s the rule? If one person is offended? Whoops, there goes the New York Yankees. I never liked them anyway.
Owner George Marshall changed the name of his team in 1933 from the Boston Braves to the Boston Redskins (Shortly thereafter, the Washington Redskins). This was done to honor and bring attention to their coach, Lone Star Dietz, who believed he was a Sioux. He went to an Indian school in Oklahoma and then to the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He played football at Carlisle with Jim Thorpe. If you don’t know who Jim Thorpe was, please go back to reading some tweets. Later, questions were raised as to whether Lone Star actually was an Indian, but so what? Maybe he spoke with a forked tongue, but it is irrelevant to our discussion.
One TV show asked people to comment on whether they were offended by the name Washington Redskins. One viewer wrote in and said the part of the name that offended him was Washington. When the Irish immigrated to this country, they were a minority that was known for heavy drinking and fighting. So some people might think that calling a team the “Fighting Irish” is an insult or a slur. What do you think, Bob? At one time, it probably was.
I’m sensitive to not insulting people. If a group wants to be called something, I say OK. I’ll call them that. And, if a few years later, they decide for the third or fourth time, they want to be called something else, I’ll go along. But for 81 years, we have been honoring the Redskins and for some politically correct numbskull to claim we are insulting somebody is outrageous.
I’m not a big Dan Snyder fan and I blame him for much that has gone wrong during his ownership (I have written on this before), but I’m with him on not changing the name. I hope he sticks it out. He is taking a lot of heat and for that one thing, I commend him. I wish the PC crowd would move on to deciding what Chrysler should do about the Jeep Cherokee.
Written by PJ Rice at www.ricequips.com
Spot on Jack. This is one of your best Quips.
Great time to be a Cardinal and Missouri fan.
Del