Washington Redskins

Being that the Superbowl is quickly approaching, I thought it would be fitting to share recent article about the Washington Redskins. Mayor Vincent Gray, of Washington D.C., recently shared his views about the controversial name of the Washington D.C. football team. The name has sparked controversy for decades and even lead a group of Native Americans to file a lawsuit against the franchise, which the Supreme Courth refused to hear. While some believe that the name does not need to be changed as it has been a tradition since the 1930s, many feel that "the "Redskins" moniker is nothing short of a racial slur." Mayor Vincent Gray warned the team that if they plan to leave their current stadium in Landover, Maryland, and return to Washington, they would need "to seriously consider changing ts name."

This article brings up some interesting points.

If the team had been named after another minority group, would the team still be able to have this name?  Would the case have been heard if this team was named after a larger minority group in the U.S. and would the team be forced to change its name? It seems that in today's society, Native Americans are often forgotten about because they make up a small percentage of the United States population.

Is this indicating a trend? The article also reported that "between 1991 and 2008, 11 high schools and two colleges stopped using the name Redskins for their teams." I think this could mean that our society is beginning to end the racism toward native Americans.

Since there is obvious disapproval of the name, will it ever change? The subculture in America of football fans are very loyal to their teams. They watch the games religiously while wearing as much team apparel as possible and often yell at their television screens as if the players/coaches can actually hear them. It is doubtful that the subculture of Redskin football fans would allow the name to be changed without a fight.

Hopefully, America will begin to realize how offensive the term "Redskin" actually is to Native Americans and will change the name!

Why "Racism: Native American"...?

Hi, everybody! I'm Jillian and I chose to blog about racism toward Native Americans because I actually am Native American. I'm about 25% Mohawk and my grandmother grew up on the Native American reservation at Akwesasne, which is on the border of New York and Canada.  So although I have never experienced racism first-hand, it is  an issue I think needs to be addressed. That's why I chose to research this topic further in sociology.