I guess this is what happens when you are not winning games and are on a bye week, thus not creating much news about your team. The Redskins' name is back in the media, and at the front page it seems. So let us look at the name and the issues with it.
The reason some people want the name changed is because it is a racial slur. They say that it is a demeaning term used to put down Native Americans. Was the word "redskin" used as a derogatory term in US history? From many accounts, yes it was. The actual creation of the term is in question, but there is evidence that it was used as a racial slur at some point in late 1800's and early 1900's.
Should that word be used as a team's name? This is the big question. If the right answer is no, then the Native American high school teams that are using it should be the first to change their names and mascots. There are 62 high schools in the United States that continue to use the redskins name, three of which have a majority of Native American students. If the Native Americans want the name changed, I believe it should start with those 3 High Schools that are using the term. If you want to make a change in the world, you have to start within your own group/neighborhood. But if you ask the students of those schools, their parents, or the staff, they see it as a term for pride and honor. Not my words, their own: "'Redskins' is not an insult to our kids. ...'Redskins' is an honorable name we wear with pride. … In fact, I'd like to see somebody come up here and try to change it," says Tim Ames, the superintendent of Wellpinit (Wash.) High School, where the student body is 91.2 percent Native American.
That brings us to the question of why is that word different than the N word? Many people are saying the two are the same, that if you can't call a team the N-words, then you shouldn't be able to call a team the Redskins. This is a very sensitive area, and I will try not to offend anyone. The two are not the same because people gave the N word the power that it has, both black and white people. They continue to do so today, by treating it as a hateful word, by reacting to it and thinking about it in the same way it was used in the days of slavery. Words only have power when we give it to them. If enough people keep saying that a word is offensive, racial, hurtful, then over time it will become just that. This includes the people using the words, and those that the words are directed to. That is why certain words in the English language are thought of as taboo, or not intended for society, because of how people have given them power. If people strip away the hate associated when encountering a word, over time it looses its strength and becomes just another word. If you don't let a word upset you, or get to you, or insult you, then you have not only stripped away any strength there is in the word, but also in the person using it in a hurtful manner. It is not an easy thing to do, because of the number of people involved and thier different views on things, but it isn't impossible. The Native American students in those 3 High Schools have done just that. They have changed how they view the term, and they have changed how it impacts their lives. Instead of it being a degrading term, it has a powerful and positive association.
Perhaps we too can learn from those kids. Perhaps we can look at certain words in a different light, and change how they have an impact on our lives. Perhaps we can get to a point that the old children's rhyme that we all know becomes reality....
"Sticks and stones may break my bones / But names will never hurt me"
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