Threading the Needle at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

[jshep]

Aren't they a sovereign people? Don't they want to be recognized as independent and not interefered with by our government? Don't they want their own laws so that they can take certain advantages (like operating casinos)? Why, then, do they have any right to be offended by the names of sports franchises outside their territories, and why do any of us give a shit what they think?

This is beyond absurd. More of the same crap from this horrible administration (which, by the way, openly and proudly befriends Jay-Z, which in Cherokee means "he who loves to use derogatory n-word term.")

 

Because we as a society have decided that are in general not that okay with derogatory ethnic slurs?

 

And because there is somehow in the year 2014 still an NFL team proudly using a derogatory ethnic slur as their team name?

[hopkinsHalo]

Dude, are you serious? How is the question of Native American sovereignty relevant?

 

Honestly, the imbecilic arguments people make in defense of keeping a racial slur as the name of an NFL team are more disturbing than the name itself. Everyone realizes the team-name is offensive and that it points to one of the darkest most troubling parts of our history -- interestingly, a part that most Americans still refuse to recognize as the foundational event of our history. It's a stain on the culture professional sports because the genocide of native peoples on this continent remains a stain on American life and culture. You can trot out as many comparative fallacies as you want, that's not going to change.

 

One of the lamest consequences of today's multiculturalist rhetoric is the idea that "racism" is somehow a generic condition -- like the way people talk about "cancer" (also mistakenly). So everyone gets to claim they don't have the racism disease while continuing to ignore the role that race place in their everyday perspectives. Racist policies, attitudes, and institutions always have particular histories and particular targets. The fact that we would more or less have consensus that "Niggers" or "Yids" would be unacceptable as team names while "Redskins" remains acceptable merely indicates the particular sort of racism that most Americans still practice.

 

Maybe Dave is trying to "thread the needle," but in the end trying to force that camel through only obfuscates an issue that is about as clear as cultural issues ever get. It's painfully obvious: anything but straightforward opposition to "Redskins" amounts to a racist position. Deal with it.

Edited June 20, 2014 by hopkinsHalo

[Spirit]

Obviously Hopkins refused to click on your link before going on the warpath.

These native Americans don't realize they're be racist against themselves.

[Blarg]

Neither does the University of Northern Colorado.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2014 by Eric Notti

[moccasin]

I agree with the article 100%.

I think people are too caught up in the is what's right and what's wrong discussion. It's impossible to prove.

What should be shed light to is the question "Does it offend a group of people?"

If it does, and there's a considerable reason to it, then it wouldn't be a preferred name.

It should be that simple.

[gotbeer]

How about Vikings?  I attribute them to murderers, pillagers, and rapists.  Shouldn't they be banned also?  Then again, there are Raiders.

[Brandon]

It bugs me the author wrote N*****, but spelled out Kike.

 

Either put an asterik for all racial slurs, or just spell them all out. It's not just the author either, society in general has this thig that "the N word" is off limits, but the rest of the racial slur gambit is ok....or it's more serious of a slur than the others.

[Jason]

As a Redskins fan it makes me sick to think they may change the name. It has never meant to be a derogatory term and most people don't think of it as such. Prior to all this attention it has gotten I bet if you asked most Americans "What's the first thing you think of when I say Redskins"? I'm sure almost all would say a football team. I'm also pretty sure that there are many more patents that are way more offensive than a historic football team.

[jshep]

As a Redskins fan it makes me sick to think they may change the name. It has never meant to be a derogatory term and most people don't think of it as such. Prior to all this attention it has gotten I bet if you asked most Americans "What's the first thing you think of when I say Redskins"? I'm sure almost all would say a football team. I'm also pretty sure that there are many more patents that are way more offensive than a historic football team.

 

Well you say "it was never meant to be a derogatory term".

 

By the team? Sure, I'm fairly confident in saying no one in the team naming meetings was like "How can we piss off some people by using an ethnic slur?" It was the 1930s, odds are that wasn't something that was given a lot of consideration.

 

But historically IT was meant to be a derogatory term, that's the origin of that word.

 

If tomorrow I were to buy a team in New York and change that team name to the "New York K*kes" I could have the most innocent intentions in the world in doing so, but I'm still going to deservedly get shit for that because it's still a word with a historically derogatory meaning for the Jewish people.

Edited June 21, 2014 by jshep

[gotbeer]

Well you say "it was never meant to be a derogatory term".

 

By the team? Sure, I'm fairly confident in saying no one in the team naming meetings was like "How can we piss off some people by using an ethnic slur?" It was the 1930s, odds are that wasn't something that was given a lot of consideration.

 

But historically IT was meant to be a derogatory term, that's the origin of that word.

 

If tomorrow I were to buy a team in New York and change that team name to the "New York K*kes" I could have the most innocent intentions in the world in doing so, but I'm still going to deservedly get shit for that because it's still a word with a historically derogatory meaning for the Jewish people.

 

No, but you can buy the yankees, and keep it the same and demean all Americans, except the all important north west.  Because historically, Yankee has been a derogatory term towards Americans for far longer than Kikes as been to Jewish.  And yet one is acceptable.  

[Brandon]

I don't think so.

 

For one, Jews have been around longer than Americans or Yankees. And secondly, Yankees was the nickname for the north during the Civil War.

[gotbeer]

I don't think so.

 

For one, Jews have been around longer than Americans or Yankees. And secondly, Yankees was the nickname for the north during the Civil War.

 

And I believe you would be wrong with both.  Kikes was a term originated at Ellis Island.  Yankee was a term used by the British.

[Jason]

Some don't like the term "Indian" as they find it offensive and prefer Native American so should that change too? I have several friends who are Native American and they don't find it offensive at all. It is a small portion of people who object to the name. The other slurs used in the article would be offensive to almost everyone so it shouldn't even be in the same conversation.

[Taylor]

I think the Cleveland Indians is the worst. For one, Indians itself is not the correct term. Indians are from South Asia. Secondly, their logo is horrible.

 

They should do a rebranding with Gandhi as their mascot.

[Ohtaniland]

I think they prefer to be called the Hogs!

 

[Thomas]

Generally speaking calling someone a team's mascot shouldn't cause one to become nervous or anxious. I would invite anyone to go to Gallup, NM and use it. Though make sure to prefix it with saying you have some friends that are native.

[Jason]

Red Mesa High School in Az is on a Navajo reservation and their mascot is the Redskins. Shouldn't they be offended too?

[Thomas]

Red Mesa High School in Az is on a Navajo reservation and their mascot is the Redskins. Shouldn't they be offended too?

 

"Hey they use the n-word in all those rap songs. They won't mind if I use it too, right?"

 

And about the Navajos...

http://www.nmtelegram.com/2014/04/11/navajo-nation-council-opposes-redskins-name/

[Brandon]

There is a school around Coachella that has an Arab mascot and team name that people are upset over.

The Arabs are mad that the mascot has a big nose.

Not making this up, they did a Behind the Lines on it on espn.

[Brandon]

Looking forward to the day when all the PC libs win and all human group names are banished. Chiefs, Braves, Padres, Pirates, Yankees, 49ers, Canadiens, or anything that can take you to court....although, then the Shawn Bradley types will create a union and say names like the Giants are derogatory.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

While the DC football team may have a long history in American sports, the derogatory, racist, and insulting treatment of native Americans goes back hundreds of years, and as such, that's a trump card the football team can't match.

 

When the Atlanta Braves played the Minnesota Twins in the 1991 World Series, on the field in Minnesota they omitted the tomahawk from the Braves' logo painted on the field. In a lame attempt to appear even-handed, they omitted the stylized underline under the Twins' name. There were also stories of Braves fans being accosted outside the stadium by a Native American group who had gathered to protest.

 

The ironic thing is that the main thing they were bothered with was the tomahawk chop. Many of the foam rubber tomahawks sold in and around the stadium in Atlanta are manufactured by the Cherokee Tribe.

 

As a Braves fan since the 1960s, I'm offended by the tomahawk chop, but not for the same reasons:

 

1. It was borrowed from Florida State, and as a Florida alumnus I find this vile. 

 

2. It reminds me that Deion Sanders once played for the Braves.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Vegas Halo Fan

[Amazing Larry]

When the government gets involved in the name of a private sports team it tells me:

A. It has too much time on its hands.

B. It has too much influence.

C. Both.

[Taylor]

There is a school around Coachella that has an Arab mascot and team name that people are upset over.

The Arabs are mad that the mascot has a big nose.

Not making this up, they did a Behind the Lines on it on espn.

 

Coachella High School. Their mascot is literally the Arabs.

[Thomas]

When the government gets involved in the name of a private sports team it tells me:

A. It has too much time on its hands.

B. It has too much influence.

C. Both.

 

They aren't so private when they are asking for billions in taxpayer subsidies since sports teams are in the public interest...

[Amazing Larry]

The answer is C.