BOF Posted October 8, 2013 Moderator Share Posted October 8, 2013 Clickings The team's moniker is offensive to Native Americans, say campaigners. But should they change it – and if so, what to? Name: Washington Redskins. Age: 81. Appearance: Eleven men playing rugby while dressed as robots above the waist and ballet dancers below it. How eccentric. You might think so, but in the fitfully entertaining world of American football, this is normal behaviour. Don't Americans just call it "football"? Americans do a lot of things. And what have they done now? They have said the Washington Redskins ought to consider changing their name. Well, one of them has said that, anyway. Which one? Barack Obama. Ooh. He's an important one. He is. "I don't think there are any Redskins fans that mean offence," he said. Wouldn't it be "offense" that none of them mean? Whatever. "Native Americans feel pretty strongly about it," Obama added, "and I don't know whether attachment to a particular name should override the real legitimate concerns that people have about these things." Why do Native Americans mind so much? Because "redskin" is an essentially racist term. You mean like "Yids", which fans of the English football team Tottenham Hotspur like to call themselves? Thank you. Yes, that sort of thing. Gotcha. "The president's comments were nothing less than historic," said Ray Halbritter of the Oneida Indian Nation. "The Washington team's name is a painful racial epithet first used against my people when we were held at gunpoint; it is a word that tells our children that they are second-class citizens." So when will the change happen? Not so fast. The majority-owner of the Redskins is a prickly billionaire called Dan Snyder, and he has said that the name will "NEVER" be changed. Oh. But that was before Obama stepped in. Several media outlets are also boycotting the word. Plus there's a legal challenge … Headaches for Snyder. Indeed. And of course the name has been changed before. Originally they were the Boston Braves. They had an official team song about scalping people too. That was proper racism. We don't do racism like that any more. No. Thankfully. So what should the new name be? The Washington Native Americans? Hmm … What is that part of the world famous for? Erm, gun crime … the crack epidemic … Martin Luther King making a speech … federal government … The Washington Rhetoricians? I can't see it, I'm afraid. Do say: "Go, 'Redskins'!" Don't say: "Go Redskins!" Please stop the world. I'm getting off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) Obama's new team name: The Washington Drones or the Washington Lobbyists. Edited October 8, 2013 by AVFCforever1991 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 the article really isnt as funny as they want to be 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted October 8, 2013 Author Moderator Share Posted October 8, 2013 Probably. I'm more concerned with the underlying issue though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 true, thats political correctness gone made. Nearly as bad as girl I work with getting reprimanded for using the word black in a non offensive way when describing her suntan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnbull Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Ridicularse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Washington Braves it will be then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) They should just say it's the Redskins as the team wears red and the team shirt is like a skin. The native American logo is just a coincidence! It's all getting really pathetic now. Edited October 8, 2013 by kurtsimonw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Sad that this is the highest profile issue that Native Americans are dealing with right now, when Third World squalor and hopelessness has a death grip on most reservations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 As you may know I'm not overly keen on NFL but as this has appeared on the BBC News website I just have to say it's ridiculous, probably thought up by the same band of small minded people who need to find something to be offended by to keep themselves going. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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