Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 8:12 am
Kevin's Column today goes after the Redskins:
Banning despicable mascots a capital idea
But NFL needs to join colleges in fight, scrap Redskins' nickname
01:23 AM CDT on Saturday, August 6, 2005
By late Friday afternoon, the headline for the lead story on the Associated Press sports wire read: Florida State to Challenge Ban on Mascots.
It referred to that university's decision to challenge an announcement earlier Friday, when the NCAA said American Indian nicknames and mascots would not be allowed in any of its postseason tournaments. Florida State's teams are called the Seminoles.
Guess what the third headline on the AP sports wire at that moment read? Musgrave Brings Fresh Offense to Redskins.
It referred to Bill Musgrave, the new quarterbacks coach for the NFL franchise in the nation's capital.
Had I been allowed to concoct such a perfect coincidence, I couldn't have.
It was good to see college sports' governing body finally make a move toward eliminating imagery that American Indians find offensive. Colleges and universities exist, ostensibly, to educate. Respect for people of color, and of different religions and ways of life, is a lesson that still needs to be taught in this country. The NCAA's act was another step in that direction.
But the biggest leap that can be made in sports in this continuing education struggle is for the professional football team that I grew up rooting for in Washington, D.C., (Sect. 312 of RFK Stadium) to do the right thing: scrap what is absolutely the most derogatory, degrading, despicable nickname in all of athletics.
Merriam-Webster defines Washington's nickname as a "noun, usually offensive" for American Indian. What an understatement.
It is the same as having a team named by a slur for any other racial or ethnic group.
That's why it needs to go immediately. It should've been gone long ago.
As if the insult isn't enough, the only reason the club is holding on to its nickname after all these years is to make money. It doesn't want to surrender the now trademarked nickname for fear of losing who knows how many millions of dollars in paraphernalia sales. It would rather thumb its nose at American Indian groups and individuals who've pleaded for it to find a new nickname.
It is even hunkered down in a court now, though not for the first time, trying hold on to its lousy vestige of yesteryear. A U.S. Court of Appeals agreed last month that American Indian groups have the right to sue the team on the basis that its nickname violates federal trademark law by disparaging American Indians. A federal judge two years ago ruled in the team's favor, somehow ignoring the federal trademark law prohibiting offensive trademarks that was passed in 1946.
At a state level, California lawmakers are weighing a bill that would ban the use of Washington's utterly offensive nickname for teams in their public schools. This shouldn't, however, have to come to court challenges and legislation. Washington need not take a cue from the NCAA, either. The NFL ought to do that by ordering its franchise to change its name.
What really should happen is simple: Washington should take a cue from all of the colleges that voluntarily dumped American Indian nicknames in favor of more nonbelligerent monikers.
Syracuse did it, Marquette did it, St. John's did it, to name a few.
And guess what? Their fans still buy those schools' T-shirts and caps and bobbleheads. All they had to do was go out and purchase all the new stuff to replace their suddenly turned collectibles.
What is Florida State – or the Midwestern State Indians in Wichita Falls, Texas, where the Cowboys trained for a spell – worried about? What are Washington and the Kansas City Chiefs worried about? What are the Atlanta Braves worried about?
This is just unadulterated obstinance.
This isn't the first time Washington's franchise embraced as tradition something that was insulting to an entire group of people. As the southernmost team in the NFL for so many years, sitting just below the Mason-Dixon Line, it dressed itself up to appeal to the Southern market.
That included having its band play "Dixie" before every home game. That lasted until the early '60s, when my father convinced them it was bad for business because it was insulting to the large number of black season-ticket holders like him.
There isn't unfortunately a critical mass of American Indian ticket holders, even though so many "Americans" like to tout some percentage of "Indian" in their blood, to wield such an appealing argument to the bottom line. If there were, you could bet we wouldn't be discussing this problem still.
The other thing Washington's current owners need to understand is that Shakespeare line about a rose. By any other name, they still own Washington's favorite team. And the Cowboys will still be Washington's most-hated rivals.
E-mail kblackistone@dallasnews.com
Banning despicable mascots a capital idea
But NFL needs to join colleges in fight, scrap Redskins' nickname
01:23 AM CDT on Saturday, August 6, 2005
By late Friday afternoon, the headline for the lead story on the Associated Press sports wire read: Florida State to Challenge Ban on Mascots.
It referred to that university's decision to challenge an announcement earlier Friday, when the NCAA said American Indian nicknames and mascots would not be allowed in any of its postseason tournaments. Florida State's teams are called the Seminoles.
Guess what the third headline on the AP sports wire at that moment read? Musgrave Brings Fresh Offense to Redskins.
It referred to Bill Musgrave, the new quarterbacks coach for the NFL franchise in the nation's capital.
Had I been allowed to concoct such a perfect coincidence, I couldn't have.
It was good to see college sports' governing body finally make a move toward eliminating imagery that American Indians find offensive. Colleges and universities exist, ostensibly, to educate. Respect for people of color, and of different religions and ways of life, is a lesson that still needs to be taught in this country. The NCAA's act was another step in that direction.
But the biggest leap that can be made in sports in this continuing education struggle is for the professional football team that I grew up rooting for in Washington, D.C., (Sect. 312 of RFK Stadium) to do the right thing: scrap what is absolutely the most derogatory, degrading, despicable nickname in all of athletics.
Merriam-Webster defines Washington's nickname as a "noun, usually offensive" for American Indian. What an understatement.
It is the same as having a team named by a slur for any other racial or ethnic group.
That's why it needs to go immediately. It should've been gone long ago.
As if the insult isn't enough, the only reason the club is holding on to its nickname after all these years is to make money. It doesn't want to surrender the now trademarked nickname for fear of losing who knows how many millions of dollars in paraphernalia sales. It would rather thumb its nose at American Indian groups and individuals who've pleaded for it to find a new nickname.
It is even hunkered down in a court now, though not for the first time, trying hold on to its lousy vestige of yesteryear. A U.S. Court of Appeals agreed last month that American Indian groups have the right to sue the team on the basis that its nickname violates federal trademark law by disparaging American Indians. A federal judge two years ago ruled in the team's favor, somehow ignoring the federal trademark law prohibiting offensive trademarks that was passed in 1946.
At a state level, California lawmakers are weighing a bill that would ban the use of Washington's utterly offensive nickname for teams in their public schools. This shouldn't, however, have to come to court challenges and legislation. Washington need not take a cue from the NCAA, either. The NFL ought to do that by ordering its franchise to change its name.
What really should happen is simple: Washington should take a cue from all of the colleges that voluntarily dumped American Indian nicknames in favor of more nonbelligerent monikers.
Syracuse did it, Marquette did it, St. John's did it, to name a few.
And guess what? Their fans still buy those schools' T-shirts and caps and bobbleheads. All they had to do was go out and purchase all the new stuff to replace their suddenly turned collectibles.
What is Florida State – or the Midwestern State Indians in Wichita Falls, Texas, where the Cowboys trained for a spell – worried about? What are Washington and the Kansas City Chiefs worried about? What are the Atlanta Braves worried about?
This is just unadulterated obstinance.
This isn't the first time Washington's franchise embraced as tradition something that was insulting to an entire group of people. As the southernmost team in the NFL for so many years, sitting just below the Mason-Dixon Line, it dressed itself up to appeal to the Southern market.
That included having its band play "Dixie" before every home game. That lasted until the early '60s, when my father convinced them it was bad for business because it was insulting to the large number of black season-ticket holders like him.
There isn't unfortunately a critical mass of American Indian ticket holders, even though so many "Americans" like to tout some percentage of "Indian" in their blood, to wield such an appealing argument to the bottom line. If there were, you could bet we wouldn't be discussing this problem still.
The other thing Washington's current owners need to understand is that Shakespeare line about a rose. By any other name, they still own Washington's favorite team. And the Cowboys will still be Washington's most-hated rivals.
E-mail kblackistone@dallasnews.com