Stop the Slur: It’s Not “Just a Word”
July 2, 2020 7:38 AM Subscribe
On Friday, June 26, First Peoples Worldwide and members of the Yethiya wihe’ / Investors & Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IIPWG) sent letters to three major sponsors of the Washington, DC NFL football team—Nike (PDF), PepsiCo (PDF), and FedEx (PDF)—signed by 87 investment firms and shareholders worth a collective $620 billion, asking the sponsors to cut any support to the team until they Change The Name. “We need to remember that the franchise name is not just a word, it is a symbol that loudly and clearly signals that Native Americans are not worthy of respect.”
As the letter campaign points out, the disrespect and denigration of Native Americans “bears out in all arenas of life, from the doctor’s office where more than one in five (PDF) Native Americans report experiencing discrimination in clinical encounters, to the classroom where Native American students reported being bullied (PDF) because of their race over three times as often as white students.”
Congresswoman Deb Haaland of New Mexico, a member of the Laguna Pueblo people and one of the first two Native women to serve in Congress, also joined the call.
Meanwhile, the National Congress of American Indians has been working for over 50 years to change the name. See prior Metafilter posts about the campaign and litigation here, here, and here, among others.
Nick Martin of the New Republic also recently called on journalists to stop printing the slur “that is still uttered with the casualness of ‘Cowboys,’ ‘Giants,’ or ‘Eagles,’” pointing out that even as the Washington Post uses its opinion pages to demand that team owner Dan Snyder change the name, it features the slur all over its other pages: “It would have the word removed from the Washington NFL team’s jerseys but not from its own pages, because that, unlike the easy performative action of publishing a 500-word editorial, would be a decision with real costs, real risks, and real potential impacts.”
The football team recently began removing honors and references to George Preston Marshall, a virulently racist and pro-segregation former team owner, but has issued no formal response to the most recent Change the Name call. On Monday, head coach Ron Rivera called the issue “a discussion for another time.”
Note: Links in this post direct to some pages that use the team name/slur (including prior Metafilter posts), and others that don’t use it or obscure it (I tried to link to the latter where possible). For discussion purposes, it is quite easy to refer to the team as the Washington or DC football team or more creative labels (the Washington Racistnames) without using the slur. Users who want to discuss using racial slurs on Metafilter can refer to this recent MetaTalk post on that topic.
As the letter campaign points out, the disrespect and denigration of Native Americans “bears out in all arenas of life, from the doctor’s office where more than one in five (PDF) Native Americans report experiencing discrimination in clinical encounters, to the classroom where Native American students reported being bullied (PDF) because of their race over three times as often as white students.”
Congresswoman Deb Haaland of New Mexico, a member of the Laguna Pueblo people and one of the first two Native women to serve in Congress, also joined the call.
Meanwhile, the National Congress of American Indians has been working for over 50 years to change the name. See prior Metafilter posts about the campaign and litigation here, here, and here, among others.
Nick Martin of the New Republic also recently called on journalists to stop printing the slur “that is still uttered with the casualness of ‘Cowboys,’ ‘Giants,’ or ‘Eagles,’” pointing out that even as the Washington Post uses its opinion pages to demand that team owner Dan Snyder change the name, it features the slur all over its other pages: “It would have the word removed from the Washington NFL team’s jerseys but not from its own pages, because that, unlike the easy performative action of publishing a 500-word editorial, would be a decision with real costs, real risks, and real potential impacts.”
The football team recently began removing honors and references to George Preston Marshall, a virulently racist and pro-segregation former team owner, but has issued no formal response to the most recent Change the Name call. On Monday, head coach Ron Rivera called the issue “a discussion for another time.”
Note: Links in this post direct to some pages that use the team name/slur (including prior Metafilter posts), and others that don’t use it or obscure it (I tried to link to the latter where possible). For discussion purposes, it is quite easy to refer to the team as the Washington or DC football team or more creative labels (the Washington Racistnames) without using the slur. Users who want to discuss using racial slurs on Metafilter can refer to this recent MetaTalk post on that topic.
It's so, so gross that this team name still exists. You've got your teams named for honorifics (that are also used derisively), teams named for local tribes (that the local fans probably know nothing about otherwise) and teams named for an archaic term that should have gone away a long time ago.
But the Washington football team? It's s a straight-up slur.
posted by thecjm at 7:53 AM on July 2, 2020 [13 favorites]
But the Washington football team? It's s a straight-up slur.
posted by thecjm at 7:53 AM on July 2, 2020 [13 favorites]
It's weird to me that it still hasn't been changed. I thought there was going to be sufficient pressure to force the change a couple of years ago, but it didn't come to anything unfortunately. Maybe in the current moment, with confederate statues being taken down and advertisers becoming more cautious about what they associate their brands with, this can finally be the tipping point.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:56 AM on July 2, 2020
posted by Dip Flash at 7:56 AM on July 2, 2020
The owner really likes the name so yea. It’s been explained to him multiple times that he’d make a ton of money on new gear sales, increase the value of his franchise, be easier to get public money for a new stadium etc, but isn’t he end he just doesn’t want to change it.
posted by jmauro at 8:04 AM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by jmauro at 8:04 AM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think a major reason that the name has been retained - in addition to Sndyer being an asshole - is polling that found that a majority of Native Americans did not object to the name. In 2004, an Annenberg survey found Most Indians Say Name of Washington “[Team]” Is Acceptable While 9 Percent Call It Offensive. In 2016, the Washington Post reported New poll finds 9 in 10 Native Americans aren’t offended by [Team] name. And in 2019, The majority of Native Americans still aren’t offended by the name of the Washington [Team]. However, a 2020 Berkeley survey found both that "at least half of more than 1,000 Native Americans surveyed are offended" by the name and that the more strongly that respondents identified as being Native American, the more likely they were to object.
Like Post sports columnist Barry Svrluga, I'm a recent convert: As he wrote recently: "If even some Native Americans are offended, that’s too many."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:14 AM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
Like Post sports columnist Barry Svrluga, I'm a recent convert: As he wrote recently: "If even some Native Americans are offended, that’s too many."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:14 AM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
The team's twitter account participating in the Black Lives Matter #blackouttuesday was just ridiculous. There's the slur, just sitting above your supposed support for BLM.
It's not time for them to change their name. It's well past time. It's so far past time that even after it's changed I doubt they'll get the stain off.
posted by ODiV at 8:14 AM on July 2, 2020 [7 favorites]
It's not time for them to change their name. It's well past time. It's so far past time that even after it's changed I doubt they'll get the stain off.
posted by ODiV at 8:14 AM on July 2, 2020 [7 favorites]
The owner really likes the name so yea.
"Really likes" in this case means "the owner is a virulent racist piece of shit", full stop. I can't see how anyone could claim to not be a racist and still be a fan of this team or put money in its coffers.
If the stadium was empty, no one watched the games via media...the name would change pretty darn quickly. Everyone who watches their games is at least a little complicit.
posted by maxwelton at 8:16 AM on July 2, 2020 [21 favorites]
"Really likes" in this case means "the owner is a virulent racist piece of shit", full stop. I can't see how anyone could claim to not be a racist and still be a fan of this team or put money in its coffers.
If the stadium was empty, no one watched the games via media...the name would change pretty darn quickly. Everyone who watches their games is at least a little complicit.
posted by maxwelton at 8:16 AM on July 2, 2020 [21 favorites]
c/o Twitter: They'll rename it to Jefferson David R******s just out of spite.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 8:19 AM on July 2, 2020
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 8:19 AM on July 2, 2020
If Nestlé can get with the program (article uses slurs), you’d think an NFL team could manage it.
posted by zamboni at 8:21 AM on July 2, 2020
posted by zamboni at 8:21 AM on July 2, 2020
I grew up in D.C. The name is horrible; it's always been horrible. Dan Snyder certainly deserves a large amount of blame for it staying in place all this time, but it was horrible long before he owned it.
posted by feckless at 8:21 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by feckless at 8:21 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
Let's do the Atlanta major league baseball team too.
posted by glonous keming at 8:26 AM on July 2, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by glonous keming at 8:26 AM on July 2, 2020 [4 favorites]
Thanks for linking to those surveys, Mr.Know-it-some. I can only speak to my own experiences, but wow, the questions seem to have not been designed with cultural knowledge of many of the people being asked. If I were asking people in my community and absolutely had to go with a survey instead of sitting down in a group to listen, I would have had at least asked something action-oriented around support/indifference/objection to the name changing, rather than framing it as being "offended" or "disrespected." Especially for a lot of older people, that just wouldn't go where most non-indigenous people might think it might.
posted by northernish at 8:33 AM on July 2, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by northernish at 8:33 AM on July 2, 2020 [12 favorites]
The cross-town rival to my high school, which is the second-largest high school in Okla-freaking-homa, has the same mascot. I'm appalled but not terribly surprised it hasn't changed. There have been calls to do so but nothing has come to fruition yet.
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:34 AM on July 2, 2020
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:34 AM on July 2, 2020
Nick Martin’s column (linked in the FPP) details his experience reporting on the team name/slur, particularly his discomfort with his first column on the matter having the slur inserted into the headline against his wishes. (He’s an enrolled member of the Sappony Tribe.) That column is about why the polls on the team name aren’t proof of much of anything. For example:
For those familiar with Indigenous issues, however, there’s a glaring problem with the latest study—the same problem the Post’s own poll had. The respondents in both polls were drawn from the vast pool of Americans who “self-identify” as Native Americans, like my new drinking buddy. Additionally, and just as problematically, Wolvereye did not make its full methodology available to the Post or its readers—unlike the original Post poll, which acknowledged, albeit not very prominently, that only 36 percent of interviewees said they were actually enrolled in a tribe.posted by sallybrown at 8:47 AM on July 2, 2020 [19 favorites]
If they don’t want to change the name, they can change the mascot... An anthropomorphized potato would be a great one for football! 😄
posted by Misciel at 9:00 AM on July 2, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Misciel at 9:00 AM on July 2, 2020 [4 favorites]
I'm visiting relatives this week (in accordance with my province's public health department's recommended social "bubbling" guidelines) and my wife and I just finished having a long fight with one of them which touched on the re-naming of sports teams, streets, buildings, etc. which are either racist unto themselves or named after Powerful White Racists Of The Past. It was kind of amazing how she touched on basically every single argument I've read or otherwise heard in favour of the white supremacist status quo:
- "We can't erase history!"
- "How will people learn about history if we change these names?" (this after she admitted that she didn't even know who the person the street we were talking about was named after was or what he'd done)
- "Are we supposed to re-name EVERYTHING going back to Roman times???"
- "Why is it such a big deal? Who cares what things are named?"
- "These people never stop asking for stuff, they're never satisfied."
- "You (meaning my wife and I) are living in a fantasy world. You don't know what it's like (i.e. for white people) up here (i.e. a town with a sizeable First Nations population)."
- "If they want things changed they should go through the proper channels, not protest and riot."
- "I'm not racist, I don't have a problem with [members of 'model minority'] moving here and 'taking over'." (those last two words are not a paraphrase)
- "Our society is mostly good, it doesn't need to be changed much."
And so on. You can imagine what she thought of any sort of "defund the police" movement. The impression I get is that white people like this are *terrified* by the prospect of even the smallest, most incremental changes because they literally think it will be the first step on the road to a rampaging-mobs-in-the-streets-style race war with white people on the losing side.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:06 AM on July 2, 2020 [13 favorites]
- "We can't erase history!"
- "How will people learn about history if we change these names?" (this after she admitted that she didn't even know who the person the street we were talking about was named after was or what he'd done)
- "Are we supposed to re-name EVERYTHING going back to Roman times???"
- "Why is it such a big deal? Who cares what things are named?"
- "These people never stop asking for stuff, they're never satisfied."
- "You (meaning my wife and I) are living in a fantasy world. You don't know what it's like (i.e. for white people) up here (i.e. a town with a sizeable First Nations population)."
- "If they want things changed they should go through the proper channels, not protest and riot."
- "I'm not racist, I don't have a problem with [members of 'model minority'] moving here and 'taking over'." (those last two words are not a paraphrase)
- "Our society is mostly good, it doesn't need to be changed much."
And so on. You can imagine what she thought of any sort of "defund the police" movement. The impression I get is that white people like this are *terrified* by the prospect of even the smallest, most incremental changes because they literally think it will be the first step on the road to a rampaging-mobs-in-the-streets-style race war with white people on the losing side.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:06 AM on July 2, 2020 [13 favorites]
See also: "A social media post by the Edmonton E****** referencing racism drew criticism over the weekend given the ongoing controversy over the team's name, which is widely considered a racial slur." (article contains said slur)
posted by oulipian at 9:24 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by oulipian at 9:24 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
Visits by the Washington team to Minneapolis generate some pretty well-attended and organized protests:
Last Year
Back in 2014
At the 1992 Super Bowl held here
....and so on, and so on. A little more digging, you could probably find more, that's just the three I found right away. (Likewise, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Kansas City sports teams need to change their names, and are regularly protested when they're in a game here.)
posted by gimonca at 9:28 AM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Last Year
Back in 2014
At the 1992 Super Bowl held here
....and so on, and so on. A little more digging, you could probably find more, that's just the three I found right away. (Likewise, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Kansas City sports teams need to change their names, and are regularly protested when they're in a game here.)
posted by gimonca at 9:28 AM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
It's hard for me to understand why this is still controversial.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:32 AM on July 2, 2020
posted by kevinbelt at 9:32 AM on July 2, 2020
Let's do the Atlanta major league baseball team too.
In the comedy series Brockmire, which focuses on a drunken, foul-mouthed sports announcer played by Hank Azaria and whose final season takes place in the future, a wealthy Native tribe buys the Cleveland NFL team and renames it the Cleveland Colonizers. At the time of the broadcast I wondered why the writers went with that team instead of the Washington one. Guess maybe they couldn't come up with a clever alliterative name using the letter W.
posted by fuse theorem at 9:44 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
In the comedy series Brockmire, which focuses on a drunken, foul-mouthed sports announcer played by Hank Azaria and whose final season takes place in the future, a wealthy Native tribe buys the Cleveland NFL team and renames it the Cleveland Colonizers. At the time of the broadcast I wondered why the writers went with that team instead of the Washington one. Guess maybe they couldn't come up with a clever alliterative name using the letter W.
posted by fuse theorem at 9:44 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
Same, kevinbelt. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with my own family that go:
“It’s just a name.”
“No, it’s a slur.”
“It’s not a slur, just outdated, it’s the team name.”
“Would you use the word in conversation? Would you call another person that word?”
“No, never.”
I think sometimes part of it is, this is something buried so deep and pulling it out by the roots brings up so many other offenses and inequalities about these much larger institutions—DC as a city, the NFL as a business, America as a nation. What does it mean about a whole city and a whole sport that this slur was spoken and written without disgust by so many for so long? And once you start thinking about how the nation treats Native Americans there’s no bottom to it, and you have to face what many of us have done and are still doing—systemically, historically, personally.
posted by sallybrown at 9:46 AM on July 2, 2020 [7 favorites]
“It’s just a name.”
“No, it’s a slur.”
“It’s not a slur, just outdated, it’s the team name.”
“Would you use the word in conversation? Would you call another person that word?”
“No, never.”
I think sometimes part of it is, this is something buried so deep and pulling it out by the roots brings up so many other offenses and inequalities about these much larger institutions—DC as a city, the NFL as a business, America as a nation. What does it mean about a whole city and a whole sport that this slur was spoken and written without disgust by so many for so long? And once you start thinking about how the nation treats Native Americans there’s no bottom to it, and you have to face what many of us have done and are still doing—systemically, historically, personally.
posted by sallybrown at 9:46 AM on July 2, 2020 [7 favorites]
I thought about this the other day while reading a very good essay: Denadagohvgee (I Will See You Again), by Shana Condill, a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and budget and administrative coordinator at Washington, DC's National Gallery of Art. The topic of the essay is the acquistion of a painting called "I See Red: Target" by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, an enrolled Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation in Montana. As Condill notes: "In the top section is a clear, unobstructed pennant for the Washington, DC, football team. It’s like a punch, but it draws you in. And then you notice all the pieces, the scraps of newspaper, the comic book. It’s clear—the topic is racism. But the painting is full of discoveries for you to make—the artist is inviting a conversation."
Thank you for this post, sallybrown.
posted by wicked_sassy at 9:53 AM on July 2, 2020 [6 favorites]
Thank you for this post, sallybrown.
posted by wicked_sassy at 9:53 AM on July 2, 2020 [6 favorites]
The football team recently began removing honors and references to George Preston Marshall, a virulently racist and pro-segregation former team owner, but has issued no formal response to the most recent Change the Name call. On Monday, head coach Ron Rivera called the issue “a discussion for another time.”
This needs to be highlighted further; George Preston Marshall was the owner who gave the team the current slur of a name (he relocated them from Boston, where they had the same less-obvious-slur-but-still-not-unproblematic name as Atlanta's current baseball team). In the earliest days, the NFL was integrated, but in 1933 Black players were banned, and it's understood that Marshall was the instigator.
The first Black player after the early era (called the "post WW2 era" but really the "Marshall era" of the NFL) was Kenny Washington, who signed with the LA Rams in 1948, and every team had Black players by 1955, except one. The Washington football team under Marshall was the last to integrate; it didn't until 1962 [detailed NYT article].
The only reason the team integrated was because they were playing in DC (now RFK) stadium, which is on federal park land. JFK's Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall stipulated that they could only play there if they obeyed federal employment laws, which by that time forbid racial discrimination. Marshall's response was “I didn’t know the government had the right to tell a showman how to cast the play,” The Klan and literal Nazis protested the integration, marching with signs to "Keep the [team] White".
The Washington American football team is not just something that happened to have a name that now seems racist, it was raised and steeped in racism for its entire history.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:08 AM on July 2, 2020 [31 favorites]
This needs to be highlighted further; George Preston Marshall was the owner who gave the team the current slur of a name (he relocated them from Boston, where they had the same less-obvious-slur-but-still-not-unproblematic name as Atlanta's current baseball team). In the earliest days, the NFL was integrated, but in 1933 Black players were banned, and it's understood that Marshall was the instigator.
The first Black player after the early era (called the "post WW2 era" but really the "Marshall era" of the NFL) was Kenny Washington, who signed with the LA Rams in 1948, and every team had Black players by 1955, except one. The Washington football team under Marshall was the last to integrate; it didn't until 1962 [detailed NYT article].
The only reason the team integrated was because they were playing in DC (now RFK) stadium, which is on federal park land. JFK's Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall stipulated that they could only play there if they obeyed federal employment laws, which by that time forbid racial discrimination. Marshall's response was “I didn’t know the government had the right to tell a showman how to cast the play,” The Klan and literal Nazis protested the integration, marching with signs to "Keep the [team] White".
The Washington American football team is not just something that happened to have a name that now seems racist, it was raised and steeped in racism for its entire history.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:08 AM on July 2, 2020 [31 favorites]
Everyone who watches their games is at least a little complicit
I stopped watching NFL (and NCAA) football after 40+ years of fandom for a number of reasons. The fact that it is barbarism and the risks to anyone who plays it was the biggest reason.
Having grown up in the DC suburbs I was quite aware of how willing progressives and others were willing to rationalize away their morals and continue to support the team and the racist chants too.
American football should be banned.
posted by terrapin at 10:13 AM on July 2, 2020 [9 favorites]
I stopped watching NFL (and NCAA) football after 40+ years of fandom for a number of reasons. The fact that it is barbarism and the risks to anyone who plays it was the biggest reason.
Having grown up in the DC suburbs I was quite aware of how willing progressives and others were willing to rationalize away their morals and continue to support the team and the racist chants too.
American football should be banned.
posted by terrapin at 10:13 AM on July 2, 2020 [9 favorites]
At the time of the broadcast I wondered why the writers went with that team instead of the Washington one. Guess maybe they couldn't come up with a clever alliterative name using the letter W.
I think they chose not to go with the Washington Whit***. Colonizers is a kind of word that isn't offensive, whether you're proud or ashamed of colonizing.
posted by Margalo Epps at 10:17 AM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think they chose not to go with the Washington Whit***. Colonizers is a kind of word that isn't offensive, whether you're proud or ashamed of colonizing.
posted by Margalo Epps at 10:17 AM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
"How will people learn about history if we change these names?"
This argument is always dumb, but it's super dumb in this case: the history of what? The history of the name of this particular football team?
posted by star gentle uterus at 10:31 AM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
This argument is always dumb, but it's super dumb in this case: the history of what? The history of the name of this particular football team?
posted by star gentle uterus at 10:31 AM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
There are multiple articles about how problematic those polls about the Washington team name are. One has already been linked, but here is another .
Dan Snyder has been long leaning on support from people who might not actually be indigenous. This Deadspin article (which fair warning has a doubly-problematic title) covers one case.
posted by thecjm at 10:42 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
Dan Snyder has been long leaning on support from people who might not actually be indigenous. This Deadspin article (which fair warning has a doubly-problematic title) covers one case.
posted by thecjm at 10:42 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
One the foregetting history note, I had no idea the Stanford University spirts teams were the Indians untill the 1970s. I feel like few would care or remeber at this point. Of couse Stanford doesnt have the same kind of sports follwoing as some schoold in the south do....
posted by CostcoCultist at 10:47 AM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by CostcoCultist at 10:47 AM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Stanford trivia!
After the trustees agreed to change the athletic moniker, the student body held an election to decide on a new name. The name that won was “Robber Barons”; however, then president Donald Kennedy said he felt that name was disrespectful to the University’s founder, railroad magnate Leland Stanford. Other names that garnered votes in the election included Sequoias and Thunderchickens.posted by persona at 10:55 AM on July 2, 2020 [5 favorites]
Thunderchickens is what we call Ruffed Grouses when they do their mating drumming.
posted by terrapin at 11:43 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by terrapin at 11:43 AM on July 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
This seems like one of many, many, many things that Native Americans could choose to be offended about. Africans were imported as slaves; Native Americans were exterminated.
It doesn't seem like a sportsball team name or even repariations would do much for that debt, but the white majority not fucking winking at the ongoing sociopathy of the rich and stop waving polls saying "Look - they don't mind!" would be a good start.
posted by lon_star at 12:02 PM on July 2, 2020
It doesn't seem like a sportsball team name or even repariations would do much for that debt, but the white majority not fucking winking at the ongoing sociopathy of the rich and stop waving polls saying "Look - they don't mind!" would be a good start.
posted by lon_star at 12:02 PM on July 2, 2020
Is it possible to have a respectful use of Native American symbols as a mascot for a football team? Something that would celebrate Native American culture instead of what that current team name is doing? What would that look like? I imagine it would start by asking local indigenous people if they are at all interested in such a thing, followed by involving them in the process, and also giving them a share in the enterprise.
posted by technodelic at 2:45 PM on July 2, 2020
posted by technodelic at 2:45 PM on July 2, 2020
I don't think it's possible to respectfully use other living people or their symbols as a mascot. If you're a member of the group in question, then it's between you and other group members. But it's not possible to use another group of people as a mascot respectfully.
posted by Lexica at 3:34 PM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Lexica at 3:34 PM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
Is it possible to have a respectful use of Native American symbols as a mascot for a football team?
The closest existing example think I can think of would be the ongoing collaboration between the Spokane Indians (team) & Spokane Salish Indians (tribe).
The closest existing example think I can think of would be the ongoing collaboration between the Spokane Indians (team) & Spokane Salish Indians (tribe).
Both Rudy Peone, chairman of the Spokane Tribe of Indians, and Otto Klein, senior vice president of the Spokane Indians baseball team, are acutely aware of how sensitive these issues can be. That’s why the two institutions have developed a collaboration.That said, they specifically avoid use *as mascot*, which feels like an important distinction.
“The team, the name, it’s not named for a vague group,” said Peone. “… This is the Spokane Indians, named specifically for our tribe. We’ve accepted that and have a very close working relationship, in a respectful way.”
“We work with them, not against them,” Klein said. “We meet with the tribal chairman each year and say, ‘What have we done to promote the tribe, and what can we do?’ “
The Spokane Indians baseball team does not use an Indian-costumed mascot. The team’s mascot is Otto, a bright blue “reptile with style.” Nor does the team lead its fans in the tomahawk chop. To Peone, the use of the Salish language in the logo and jerseys makes the Spokane Indians “more than a mascot.” He said the tribe has been generally supportive of the partnership because of the way in which it has been done.posted by CrystalDave at 4:02 PM on July 2, 2020 [13 favorites]
I don't think it's possible to respectfully use other living people or their symbols as a mascot.
I can see how the mascot could be especially problematic. Let me rephrase that. Is it possible to respectfully use Native American symbols as branding (logo, colors, etc, etc) for a sports team?
collaboration between the Spokane Indians (team) & Spokane Salish Indians (tribe)
How do tribes feel about the Seattle Seahawks?
My high school alma mater and team were the McLane Highlanders. We had a Scottish bagpipe and drum group with dancers, the marching band wore the uniform of the Queen's Scots Guards, we all had McLane of Lochbuie tartan gear, and our mascot was a Scottish Terrier. In the band at least the people with Scottish ancestry felt honored and everybody else learned a lot about Scottish history and culture and we all had a great time with it. We were a very multiethnic school and white students were definitely the minority. I'd love to see something that celebrated and honored Native American culture in the same way. Can people see something like that as a possibility?
posted by technodelic at 4:42 PM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
I can see how the mascot could be especially problematic. Let me rephrase that. Is it possible to respectfully use Native American symbols as branding (logo, colors, etc, etc) for a sports team?
collaboration between the Spokane Indians (team) & Spokane Salish Indians (tribe)
How do tribes feel about the Seattle Seahawks?
My high school alma mater and team were the McLane Highlanders. We had a Scottish bagpipe and drum group with dancers, the marching band wore the uniform of the Queen's Scots Guards, we all had McLane of Lochbuie tartan gear, and our mascot was a Scottish Terrier. In the band at least the people with Scottish ancestry felt honored and everybody else learned a lot about Scottish history and culture and we all had a great time with it. We were a very multiethnic school and white students were definitely the minority. I'd love to see something that celebrated and honored Native American culture in the same way. Can people see something like that as a possibility?
posted by technodelic at 4:42 PM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Free Seafood University works pretty closely with the Seminole tribe.
posted by kevinbelt at 5:40 PM on July 2, 2020
posted by kevinbelt at 5:40 PM on July 2, 2020
Can people see something like that as a possibility?
White people dressing as (or claiming to actually be) Native Americans has a bit more baggage than playacting being Scottish does; I don't think these examples would map onto each other very well unless it was initiated and led from the Tribal side of the table.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:50 PM on July 2, 2020
White people dressing as (or claiming to actually be) Native Americans has a bit more baggage than playacting being Scottish does; I don't think these examples would map onto each other very well unless it was initiated and led from the Tribal side of the table.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:50 PM on July 2, 2020
FedEx has released a public statement calling on the team to change the name: “We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name.”
Fred Smith, who founded and still owns and runs FedEx, is also a (small) partial owner of the team, so this is not just any sponsor. And the naming rights deal for the team’s stadium (currently FedEx Field) runs out in 2025.
posted by sallybrown at 6:30 PM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
Fred Smith, who founded and still owns and runs FedEx, is also a (small) partial owner of the team, so this is not just any sponsor. And the naming rights deal for the team’s stadium (currently FedEx Field) runs out in 2025.
posted by sallybrown at 6:30 PM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
Was going to mention the Spokane Indians, which is a minor league baseball team, in case that wasn't clear. They have Salish on their caps, on their uniforms... Here's the team's page about their partnership with the Spokane Tribe. Here's a large entirely beneficial cross-community effort led by the baseball team and the Tribe which explains why they have a fish as a mascot, amongst many other things that reading about feels impressive for the city and area.
posted by hippybear at 6:35 PM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 6:35 PM on July 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
Nike appears to have pulled all of the DC team’s merch off its website.
posted by sallybrown at 7:28 PM on July 2, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by sallybrown at 7:28 PM on July 2, 2020 [5 favorites]
The football team recently began removing honors and references to George Preston Marshall, a virulently racist and pro-segregation former team owner, but has issued no formal response to the most recent Change the Name call. On Monday, head coach Ron Rivera called the issue “a discussion for another time.”
This needs to be highlighted further; George Preston Marshall was the owner who gave the team the current slur of a name (he relocated them from Boston, where they had the same less-obvious-slur-but-still-not-unproblematic name as Atlanta's current baseball team). In the earliest days, the NFL was integrated, but in 1933 Black players were banned, and it's understood that Marshall was the instigator.
This guy right here is the reason there are so many Dallas Cowboys fans in DC. (edited for clarity: many in Washington were Cowboys fans as a protest against the segregaton of the DC team.)
For those not in the know, DC & Dallas are historic rivals (Dallas even owned the rights to Washington's fight song for a bit).
This is long overdue, and it seems that most of the comment against the name change in my circle of family/friends is "why haven't they started complaining about it until now?" which is such bullshit when the fight against this name has been going on for over 50 years at this point, just no one really listened until the last few years.
As a human being, I am fully behind replacing this terrible name. As a Cowboys fan, I am overjoyed that at anything that hurts that team in general, so I hope they lose it soon and I will happily pay to drink Dan Snyder's tears. Oooooh if we really want to fuck with his racist head, we should have the Jerry Jones make the announcement on behalf of the owners and have the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders there (as eye candy, because you know, patriarchy and all) for the new christening.
posted by LizBoBiz at 4:54 AM on July 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
This needs to be highlighted further; George Preston Marshall was the owner who gave the team the current slur of a name (he relocated them from Boston, where they had the same less-obvious-slur-but-still-not-unproblematic name as Atlanta's current baseball team). In the earliest days, the NFL was integrated, but in 1933 Black players were banned, and it's understood that Marshall was the instigator.
This guy right here is the reason there are so many Dallas Cowboys fans in DC. (edited for clarity: many in Washington were Cowboys fans as a protest against the segregaton of the DC team.)
For those not in the know, DC & Dallas are historic rivals (Dallas even owned the rights to Washington's fight song for a bit).
This is long overdue, and it seems that most of the comment against the name change in my circle of family/friends is "why haven't they started complaining about it until now?" which is such bullshit when the fight against this name has been going on for over 50 years at this point, just no one really listened until the last few years.
As a human being, I am fully behind replacing this terrible name. As a Cowboys fan, I am overjoyed that at anything that hurts that team in general, so I hope they lose it soon and I will happily pay to drink Dan Snyder's tears. Oooooh if we really want to fuck with his racist head, we should have the Jerry Jones make the announcement on behalf of the owners and have the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders there (as eye candy, because you know, patriarchy and all) for the new christening.
posted by LizBoBiz at 4:54 AM on July 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
This needs to be highlighted further; George Preston Marshall was the owner who gave the team the current slur of a name (he relocated them from Boston, where they had the same less-obvious-slur-but-still-not-unproblematic name as Atlanta's current baseball team).
It's stupider than that. They started in 1932, and played at the stadium where the Boston NL team (now Atlanta via Milwaukee) played, and used the baseball team's name. The next year, they moved to Fenway Park, where the Red Sox play, so they changed the name to add "Red" to it. (They also hired a coach who pretended to be Native American; they also seem to have signed some players who either were Native American, were from Oklahoma, or had some similar connection.) They moved to Washington in 1937.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:37 AM on July 3, 2020
It's stupider than that. They started in 1932, and played at the stadium where the Boston NL team (now Atlanta via Milwaukee) played, and used the baseball team's name. The next year, they moved to Fenway Park, where the Red Sox play, so they changed the name to add "Red" to it. (They also hired a coach who pretended to be Native American; they also seem to have signed some players who either were Native American, were from Oklahoma, or had some similar connection.) They moved to Washington in 1937.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:37 AM on July 3, 2020
"In light of recent events around our country and feedback from our community, the Washington Redskins are announcing the team will undergo a thorough review of the team's name," the franchise said in a statement Friday.
A thorough review? Is 30 minutes enough? I mean, it's only one word, not the tax code. And this issue didn't just pop up today.
What you mean is, you want to wait and see if it dies down enough by Monday to safely ignore it again.
posted by ctmf at 7:44 PM on July 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
A thorough review? Is 30 minutes enough? I mean, it's only one word, not the tax code. And this issue didn't just pop up today.
What you mean is, you want to wait and see if it dies down enough by Monday to safely ignore it again.
posted by ctmf at 7:44 PM on July 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
In the WA-Po article I was reading earlier, they were quoting people saying that the outcome was expected to be a new name. I really hope that is true and that the racist owner has finally been forced into accepting some change.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:59 PM on July 3, 2020
posted by Dip Flash at 8:59 PM on July 3, 2020
ODiV: The team's twitter account participating in the Black Lives Matter #blackouttuesday was just ridiculous. There's the slur, just sitting above your supposed support for BLM.
@AOC: Want to really stand for racial justice? Change your name.
@AdamSchefter (July 3, 2020):
My summary of the letter, by paragraph:
Probably.
* 4: company/ team banner, including two URLs; 1: CAPS AND BOLD "Statement from Washington ..."; 3: Washington Team mentioned once in each of the 3 full paragraphs; 1: CAPS AND BOLD "R*******" to indicate the end of the message.
On the other hand, Cleveland's statement is another "we're thinking about it" (image in a tweet from the official team twitter account) ... BUT they don't mention the team name. AT ALL. The language is mushy, never mentioning Native Americans or anything similar terminology, and says "we are committed to engaging our community* and appropriate stakeholders** to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name."
* That community appears to include people whose response to this letter is "Don’t give into peer pressure. First they want our Cartoon Mascot, now our name. People can’t handle anything these days." Oh, Cassandra, don't you realize it's not your name to have?
** Appropriate stakeholders might include consultation with Native American representatives, entities, and/or individuals, or it may not. We'll see.
But after the header "Statement from [the team]," the team name isn't included! That alone is a stark difference from the Washington letter, which in any other situation would feel like they're trying to reinforce the brand as a typical heavy-handed business tactic, but in this instances it feels like they're saying "nya nya, we're still saying it!"
posted by filthy light thief at 10:20 PM on July 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
@AOC: Want to really stand for racial justice? Change your name.
@AdamSchefter (July 3, 2020):
And here it is: the R******* are undergoing a thorough review of the team’s name.(Slur used throughout)
And let’s be clear: There’s no review if there’s no change coming.
R******* on way out.
My summary of the letter, by paragraph:
We just now realize, in no small part because of the letter signed by 87 investment firms and shareholders worth a collective $620 billion, aimed at three major sponsors of the Racists, that we should reconsider our stance on our racist name.It's a shit letter, with Washington R******* spelled out NINE TIMES*, but after this long of Snyder refusing to consider it, it's (possibly) a step. I don't know if I agree with Schefter that it's going to happen because they announced it's being discussed, because Schneider could also be hoping this all blows over, or refer back to (problematic) polling. But if major companies pull funding, that'll probably get him to change.
Dan Snyder refuses to mention Native Americans, and instead pretends that it's just a name.
Ron Rivera shows that he is capable of mentioning Native Americans, but ruins it by saying that the Washington Racists, whose mascot is named Chief Wahoo, ffs, have a "mission of honoring and supporting Native Americans," and somehow "our Military," too, whatever that's about.
All lives matter. I mean, all opinions matter.
RACISTS *mic drop*
Probably.
* 4: company/ team banner, including two URLs; 1: CAPS AND BOLD "Statement from Washington ..."; 3: Washington Team mentioned once in each of the 3 full paragraphs; 1: CAPS AND BOLD "R*******" to indicate the end of the message.
On the other hand, Cleveland's statement is another "we're thinking about it" (image in a tweet from the official team twitter account) ... BUT they don't mention the team name. AT ALL. The language is mushy, never mentioning Native Americans or anything similar terminology, and says "we are committed to engaging our community* and appropriate stakeholders** to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name."
* That community appears to include people whose response to this letter is "Don’t give into peer pressure. First they want our Cartoon Mascot, now our name. People can’t handle anything these days." Oh, Cassandra, don't you realize it's not your name to have?
** Appropriate stakeholders might include consultation with Native American representatives, entities, and/or individuals, or it may not. We'll see.
But after the header "Statement from [the team]," the team name isn't included! That alone is a stark difference from the Washington letter, which in any other situation would feel like they're trying to reinforce the brand as a typical heavy-handed business tactic, but in this instances it feels like they're saying "nya nya, we're still saying it!"
posted by filthy light thief at 10:20 PM on July 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
My guess is Snyder and the team (and maybe even the League) have had a “break glass in case of emergency” name change plan for a while, just in case the pressure ever mounted enough.
What I don’t understand is, why not act like a feeling, thinking human and release a commitment to change the name, and just ask for a little time to get all the formal work done? No one is going to begrudge the team a few weeks to get paperwork in order, and they don’t need to announce the new name. Just say “Yes, we are listening, and we will change the name. Please stay tuned as we get the work done behind the scenes and we will announce the new name in the near future.” Turn it into a new “The Decision.” (People are so bored right now, lots of us would tune in to see a new name announcement.) Why this mealy-mouthed “we’re going to study it” crap? That’s what makes me worried.
posted by sallybrown at 4:42 AM on July 4, 2020
What I don’t understand is, why not act like a feeling, thinking human and release a commitment to change the name, and just ask for a little time to get all the formal work done? No one is going to begrudge the team a few weeks to get paperwork in order, and they don’t need to announce the new name. Just say “Yes, we are listening, and we will change the name. Please stay tuned as we get the work done behind the scenes and we will announce the new name in the near future.” Turn it into a new “The Decision.” (People are so bored right now, lots of us would tune in to see a new name announcement.) Why this mealy-mouthed “we’re going to study it” crap? That’s what makes me worried.
posted by sallybrown at 4:42 AM on July 4, 2020
It seems to me
That to stay mean
These names should change with time
The New York Muggers
Detroit Murders
And Chicago Mob
Boston Bigots
Texas Swindlers
And the L.A. Cops
Miami Drugs
New Jersey Dumps
Take on the Denver Smog
Seattle Fads
New Orleans Hoods
Milwaukee Cannibals
San Diego Jarheads
And the Arizona Drought
...
Heads explode when Dallas Oswalds
Meet Washington Bribes
Home team bands play "Cop Killer"
When L.A. comes to town
Pittsburgh Polluters
Houston Drive-Bys
Don't stir near the fear
When the Florida Abortion Bombers
Meets the San Francisco Queers
Mascot Mania by Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon, 1994
[full lyrics] [song]
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 4:54 AM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
That to stay mean
These names should change with time
The New York Muggers
Detroit Murders
And Chicago Mob
Boston Bigots
Texas Swindlers
And the L.A. Cops
Miami Drugs
New Jersey Dumps
Take on the Denver Smog
Seattle Fads
New Orleans Hoods
Milwaukee Cannibals
San Diego Jarheads
And the Arizona Drought
...
Heads explode when Dallas Oswalds
Meet Washington Bribes
Home team bands play "Cop Killer"
When L.A. comes to town
Pittsburgh Polluters
Houston Drive-Bys
Don't stir near the fear
When the Florida Abortion Bombers
Meets the San Francisco Queers
Mascot Mania by Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon, 1994
[full lyrics] [song]
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 4:54 AM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Mascot Mania by Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon, 1994
Once again, I'm reminded that there are no truly vicious racial slurs for white people.
posted by mikelieman at 5:45 AM on July 4, 2020
Once again, I'm reminded that there are no truly vicious racial slurs for white people.
posted by mikelieman at 5:45 AM on July 4, 2020
Once again, I'm reminded that there are no truly vicious racial slurs for white people.
Right? Because the power of a slur isn't mostly in its sound or etymology, it's in its ability to invoke fear and rage. The fear and rage that accompany the idea that you are an outsider, vulnerable, not part of the larger fabric of everyday society. That when most people say "we" and "us," they don't mean *you*, [SLUR].
It's rare that a white person in America can feel a disenfranchisement born of their being white. There isn't that fear to tap into. When you do see it, it comes from the "economically anxious" white people who genuinely fear a country run by a Black man, or a neighborhood filled with Muslims. A slur against white people might tap into that fear.
I think that that fear is separate from white fragility, which is defensiveness to a challenge to the idea that someone is a good person, or free from the stain of racism. The fear that is tapped into by a slur is a fear of death and disappearance, not a fear of mere guilt.
posted by pykrete jungle at 6:03 AM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Right? Because the power of a slur isn't mostly in its sound or etymology, it's in its ability to invoke fear and rage. The fear and rage that accompany the idea that you are an outsider, vulnerable, not part of the larger fabric of everyday society. That when most people say "we" and "us," they don't mean *you*, [SLUR].
It's rare that a white person in America can feel a disenfranchisement born of their being white. There isn't that fear to tap into. When you do see it, it comes from the "economically anxious" white people who genuinely fear a country run by a Black man, or a neighborhood filled with Muslims. A slur against white people might tap into that fear.
I think that that fear is separate from white fragility, which is defensiveness to a challenge to the idea that someone is a good person, or free from the stain of racism. The fear that is tapped into by a slur is a fear of death and disappearance, not a fear of mere guilt.
posted by pykrete jungle at 6:03 AM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Mod note: A few comments deleted. Please skip the clever thought exercises about what's like a racial slur against white people. The whole point is that the power relations don't work the same; any attempt to do this ends up ignoring or distorting the real world context which we ask people not to do in the Community Guidelines.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:24 AM on July 4, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:24 AM on July 4, 2020 [6 favorites]
What I don’t understand is, why not act like a feeling, thinking human and release a commitment to change the name, and just ask for a little time to get all the formal work done?
Washington could get started on this today, right now. They have maintenance people on contract that could be out there stripping the branding from their buildings; they have office people who could start using blank paper instead of letterhead; they could just not use the slur in all press releases and social media statements; etc. A defacto name change is as simple as appending DBA to their name.
A non racist organization would be jumping on this chance to build hype and sell merchandise during an aborted season by building mystery right now while this is in the news.
Stubbornness at not being "forced" into the change and straight up racism are preventing them from doing so.
posted by Mitheral at 9:56 AM on July 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
Washington could get started on this today, right now. They have maintenance people on contract that could be out there stripping the branding from their buildings; they have office people who could start using blank paper instead of letterhead; they could just not use the slur in all press releases and social media statements; etc. A defacto name change is as simple as appending DBA to their name.
A non racist organization would be jumping on this chance to build hype and sell merchandise during an aborted season by building mystery right now while this is in the news.
Stubbornness at not being "forced" into the change and straight up racism are preventing them from doing so.
posted by Mitheral at 9:56 AM on July 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
The new name gaining steam among team fans (at least the ones I know) and former DC player Will Compton is the Washington Redwolves (twitter link).
posted by sallybrown at 6:43 AM on July 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by sallybrown at 6:43 AM on July 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Washington is retiring their nickname and logo (in a press release that includes both a couple of times).
They appear to have a new preferred name identified but they are still trying to iron out trademarks, etc. But for now it looks like they’re pulling a Mississippi and going without a nickname while they decide on a new one.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:16 AM on July 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
They appear to have a new preferred name identified but they are still trying to iron out trademarks, etc. But for now it looks like they’re pulling a Mississippi and going without a nickname while they decide on a new one.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:16 AM on July 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
On July 2, a group of 87 investment firms and shareholders signed three separate letters to Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo threatening to terminate relationships with the team unless it dropped the racially insensitive name. Later that day, FedEx, the company with naming rights to the team's stadium, formally requested the franchise take action. The review began the following day.
Ah money. Occasionally you can use your powers in a non-evil way.
posted by Mitheral at 9:37 AM on July 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Ah money. Occasionally you can use your powers in a non-evil way.
posted by Mitheral at 9:37 AM on July 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm gonna bet 1 (one) internet point that Snyder manages to choose an even worse name.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:44 AM on July 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:44 AM on July 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
That seems... difficult. But it is Dan Snyder we’re talking about. So I’ll fold.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:58 AM on July 13, 2020
posted by kevinbelt at 9:58 AM on July 13, 2020
Wherever Washington winds up won’t be weirder than Wizards.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:58 AM on July 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:58 AM on July 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
From dream job to nightmare — More than a dozen women allege sexual harassment and verbal abuse by former team employees at R******* Park
A name change, however overdue it may be, is not going to end the culture that led to this.
posted by tonycpsu at 3:49 PM on July 16, 2020
A name change, however overdue it may be, is not going to end the culture that led to this.
posted by tonycpsu at 3:49 PM on July 16, 2020
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I have an otherwise super progressive co-worker who has a Washington NFL pennant in his office, he he loves to complian how bad Synder is.
posted by CostcoCultist at 7:53 AM on July 2, 2020