As the ongoing Black Lives Matter Movement continues to gain momentum the Washington Redskins of the National Football League are facing renewed scrutiny and new found economic pressure from heavyweight sponsors such as Pepsi and Fedex as calls to finally change their racist team name reach a fever pitch.
Will that overwhelming pressure be enough to finally sway reluctant owner Daniel Snyder who has thus far been hesitant to consider a change in the name of tradition? It certainly should be. Especially, when you consider exactly how offensive the term Redskins really is.
Baxter Holmes, a native American, wrote about this issue in Esquire all the way back in 2014 so this information is by no means new:
“I understand, to a degree, the complex connection between a team and its offensive mascot, because the mascot for Tuskahoma’s elementary school is ‘Savages.’ I wore that word on my chest when I played for its basketball team, even if that word disgraced my ancestors.
But ‘redskins’ is not just a twisted compliment, like ‘Savages,’ ‘Warriors,’ ‘Braves’ or ‘Red Men.’ It represents a trophy of war—the bloody scalp of a murdered Native American, slaughtered for money, the amount dependent on whether it was a man, woman or child.
The team has had the Redskins name since 1933, when it was based in Boston, so it’s easy to say, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’ But if America ‘always did it this way,’ then terms like ‘Wetback,’ ‘Negro,’ and its much uglier cousin would still be a part of our lexicon. We learn.
Also, consider the history of Native Americans, a race all but annihilated because of genocidal policies instituted by people like Spencer Phips. Our identity has been stripped away, lost to time, yet the most offensive word toward us still exists—where else?—but in this nation’s capital.”
All in all, if I was Snyder, instead of being resistant to the change, I would embrace it. Quite frankly, since they last won the Super Bowl in 1992, the Washington Redskins have flat out sucked. Constantly changing coaches, quarterbacks, and overpaying for free agents. If anyone could use a franchise reset and the clean slate that would come along with it it’s the Washington Redskins.
And as a owner just think about all the positive benefits. Think about all of the branding opportunities. Think about how much new merchandise you’ll sell. Renaming your team name would be a cash cow. Everyone should do it, every few years, just for the hell of it. Case in point: the Jacksonville Jaquars. Does anyone really even care about them at all? They should change their name every year. But I digress. This isn’t about how bad the Jaquars are. It’s about fixing an injustice that has lingered for far too long. Thankfully, there may be a solution: renaming the team the Washington Redtails.
An idea put forth by fantasy sports editor Peter Rogers on Twitter:
Personally, I love the idea as it allows the team to keep their color scheme and still has the word red in the name. But more importantly than cosmetics is what the name represents: a complete 180. Instead of perpetuating racism by marginalizing a group of people like the old Redskins name did, the new name would put racism in the rear view and instead celebrate the contributions of a minority group. It’s literally perfect. Even more so when you consider that these were war heroes and that this is the team representing our nation’s capital. And there would be no better time to announce the change than over the 4th of July holiday weekend. Lock it up. Championship.
Is changing the Redskins name to the Redtails the Greatest Idea Ever?
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