Redskins, Pigskins and Wheat Thins

For those of you who thought my blog yesterday (depicting my experience at the Penn recruiting fair) signified the end of “Ryan Complains About Sports Names Week”, you are sadly mistaken. Yesterday’s entry was merely a brief pause in the excitement that is RCASNW, and today we resume our exploration of the unexciting world that is professional sports names. Fasten your seat belt; it’s gonna be a wild ride! Oh, you don’t wear a seatbelt while you sit at your computer? Fine, unfasten your seat belts!

Today’s topic: “The white man took my land, and all I got was this lousy team name.”

In an increasingly politically correct world, it’s pretty crazy that professional sports have teams like the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Washington Redskins and The Chicago Blackhawks. I mean, its one thing to take the Native Americans’ land, and wipe out 95% of their population, but I think plastering derogatory caricatures of them on sports helmets and mocking their culture with the “Tomahawk Chop” is going a bit too far.

I currently live in Washington, DC, home of the Washington Redskins. Redskins! This name is not very culturally sensitive; in fact, I would even go as far as saying it is culturally insensitive. Yep, I typed it. Insensitive. Not cool.

Some may insist that, although its derogatory meaning might warrant a change, the sports history associated with the name prevents such alterations. However, Washington’s own “Bullets” basketball franchise changed its name in 1997 to the Wizards because the owner didn’t want to be associated with violence. So team names that mock a repeatedly mistreated people are ok, but ones that are associated with violence need to be changed? I guess that makes sense; after all, I’m sure that watching the Washington Bullets play made people want to shoot guns just as much as watching the Portland Trailblazers has made people want to go hiking, or watching the Red Sox or the White Sox has made people want to separate their laundry. For those who didn’t pick up on my sarcasm, I shall be a bit more blunt: seeing a team that is called the Bullets won’t hurt anyone, but using a name that perpetuates stereotypes will. Not physically, but socially. And once again, that’s not cool.

How would Jews feel if instead of the Washington Redskins, it were the Washington Bignoses, with a banner depicting an accountant wearing a yarmulke, (a little Jewish hat, for those of you not in the know). Well, I’d probably laugh about it, but I’m guessing most Jews would throw a fit and send a million-Rabbi march down Pennsylvania Avenue.

I once asked my friend Billy, who is both a Washington Native, and part Native American, how he could root for a team whose name mocks part of his past. He responded, “Well, I can cheer for them. But YOU”, (pointing to the whiteness that is my skin) “cannot.” And he’s right. I would never cheer for the Washington Redskins.

After all, I’m an Eagles fan, and Eagles fans would never dream of cheering for the Redskins. They suck.