After decades of dragging its feet and denying the existence of any kind of problem, the Washington NFL team announced Friday that its name “will undergo a thorough examination” following “recent events in our country” .
In a short press release, the team’s front office did not specify which events “across the country” had triggered this review, so we will have to assume the brutal murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police and the problem of metastasizing American racism was the catalyst.
Although there is a basic understanding that the name is problematic, Americans still do not understand why it needs to change.
The name of the Washington NFL team is and has always been extremely offensive. But despite decades of criticism, little progress has been made. This suggests that although there is a basic understanding that the name is problematic, Americans still do not understand Why that must change. President Donald Trump perfectly underlines the need for better education on this subject, weighing in via Twitter on Monday and saying that a name change is being pushed because it is “politically correct”.
Such a response may unfortunately be foreseeable on the part of this president, but it is unequivocally ignorant. Native Americans as mascots in general have been problematic for decades; it’s just that in the 1960s and 1970s there was no social media or the Internet to help promote and amplify Indigenous voices and protests.
Fifty years ago, aboriginal people had to rely solely on newspapers, radio and local news – mostly white men – to get our message out. Now we have the ability to speak for ourselves. (For a good example of this ongoing speech, open Twitter and enter the hashtag #NativeTwitter.)
But why is this story still so important? In other words, why is it more than fair a team name?
Because, for one thing, it is not a name at all. In fact, the name is a racial insult defined by a dictionary. The slur and the logo do not exist in a vacuum and continually encourage fans to adopt a truly racist behavior in the stands: redface, feather headdresses, false drums, false long hair and braids, war whoops, a blade impaling the plastic – rubber head of what is supposed to be a Native American, etc.
Want more items like this? Follow THINK on Instagram for updates on the most important cultural analysis of the week
Imagine being an Aboriginal child and having to be exposed to this racist misery. Indeed, there are empirical studies that prove that native mascots and logos harm children’s mental health and stability, and are not just related to the Washington NFL team. We must not let the Kansas City chiefs, the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago Blackhawks, etc., get by. The native mascots are the dehumanization and the commodification of a human race still alive and persecuted.
In 2005, the American Psychological Association called for the immediate abolition of mascots because of empirical evidence that shows how they harm children.
“These mascots teach stereotypical, misleading and all too often insulting images of American Indians,” said APA president Ronald F. Levant. “These negative lessons do not only affect American Indian students; they send the wrong message to all students. “
And this message, literally, is that it is OK and even good to glorify the murder of Native Americans.
Years ago, I unearthed a news clip from the Atchison Daily Champion in Atchison, Kansas, dated October 9, 1885, which reported that there was a $ 250 reward for “red skin”, c that is to say the native scalps. The title: “A hunt for the Indians”.
These scalps, or “red skins,” were not always removed from the bodies of Aboriginal men after a massacre or a battle. White men would barbarically cut the flesh and hair of any dead native – man, woman, child.
I have been writing and decrypting these and other troubling facts about this for years. Really, with all my heart, I wish this piece to be the last thing I have to write on the issue. Unlikely.
It is time for the team to do the right thing, change its name and remove all references to Native Americans. (There are reports that owner Dan Snyder is willing to drop the name but keep the native imagery in the logo – it won’t cut it.). And I hope that other professional sports teams, like the Chiefs and the Blackhawks, and universities like the Florida State Seminoles, and schools like the Lamar Savages in Lamar, Colorado, will do the same.
Racism in America is a beloved and consecrated tradition for a large part of the American population, and playing Native Americans, painting their faces, making the darling of war, donning a headdress – it unites fans of all races in a ritual of mockery which, despite all the progress we have made elsewhere, remains acceptable to millions of people. Indeed, we have a long way to go.
And yet, I am cautiously optimistic. Imagine if Snyder, who was once quoted as saying that he would “NEVER” change the name of the team, would reverse the course. Imagine the message that would be sent to other teams and universities and companies that still defend their mascot and their native images, even against empirical data. Think of all the children who could help and protect, of all the racist behavior that would stop in the stands and stadiums across the country. Think of all the healing that could finally begin. As has been said over and over again, if not now, when?
Related:
