Obama on the Washington Redskins

[Gauthier]

Slurs are only insulting if the target ethnicity has been historically oppressed and exploited.

Oh right, I forgot "whitey" or "cracker" conjures up centuries of brutal oppression and disenfranchisement in the exact same manner as "nigger" or "injun".

[Mushet]

Blackfeet elder Bob Burns speaks on Rick Reilly misquoting him and what Redskins means

[New Waterford]

If it turns out that a significant number of Native Americans are offended by it, then yes.

[Ifreann]

Blackfeet elder Bob Burns speaks on Rick Reilly misquoting him and what Redskins means

Bah, what would he know about what he said.

[Starkiller101]

Maybe the redskins should be the offcial team for native amercians everywhere

[Farnhamia]

Maybe the redskins should be the offcial team for native amercians everywhere

Considering that "redskin" is considered a slur, how about no?

[Ifreann]

Maybe the redskins should be the offcial team for native amercians everywhere

Maybe they could just abandon the racist slur instead.

[Starkiller101]

Maybe the redskins should be the offcial team for native amercians everywhere

Maybe they could just abandon the racist slur instead.

what racial slur

[Ifreann]

Maybe they could just abandon the racist slur instead.

what racial slur

"Redskin"

[Starkiller101]

what racial slur

"Redskin"

oh now i see it damn i never noticed that

[Forsakia]

Oh right, I forgot "whitey" or "cracker" conjures up centuries of brutal oppression and disenfranchisement in the exact same manner as "nigger" or "injun".

A slur is insulting by definition.

[Madenia]

Oh right, I forgot "whitey" or "cracker" conjures up centuries of brutal oppression and disenfranchisement in the exact same manner as "nigger" or "injun".

Huh? Maybe you don't know Scottish Whites were held in slavery for a rather long time.

http://www.electricscotland.com/history ... lavery.htm

[Starkiller101]

Maybe the redskins should be the offcial team for native amercians everywhere

Considering that "redskin" is considered a slur, how about no?

yeah i got that now

[Gauthier]

Oh right, I forgot "whitey" or "cracker" conjures up centuries of brutal oppression and disenfranchisement in the exact same manner as "nigger" or "injun".

Huh? Maybe you don't know Scottish Whites were held in slavery for a rather long time.

http://www.electricscotland.com/history ... lavery.htm

And every white American is of Scottish descent clearly.

[Surfistan]

Huh? Maybe you don't know Scottish Whites were held in slavery for a rather long time.

http://www.electricscotland.com/history ... lavery.htm

And every white American is of Scottish descent clearly.

Yes, just like every white American is x% Cherokee or x% Irish.

[Sheltopolis]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9689220/redskins-name-change-not-easy-sounds

I think this article really explains things well, especially how it references that we, the white people, are basically speaking on behalf of the Native Americans, who's word on this issue should be the only thing that counts.

[Wikipedia and Universe]

If most Native Americans find the name insensitive or offensive, I would advise them to change it. Washington Warriors is a good idea. Not only is it tasteful, but it would also be a respectable name for an NFL team. It'd probably piss off a lot of Redskins fans, but that's their problem. I'm a Steelers fan.

The cowboys have bet the Red skins that if the cowboys win the red skins will change their name.

Wait, is that for real or just what you wish would happen?

Doesn't Obama (or any other incompetent elected official (both parties)) have better things to worry about... like y'know, the shutdown, or foreign policy, or maybe even *gasp* meeting together to get a compromise done on funding this inept government?

That's quite a nice fallacy of relative privation (appeal to worse problems) you have there! I'm sure the president is on top of the issues you just mentioned. That doesn't mean he can't take a few minutes out of his day to offer his opinion on an unrelated issue.

As for the people clamoring about how the team should be able to decide whether or not to change its own name, when did Obama say or imply that it wasn't up to the Redskins franchise to change the name? Why is it that when the president states what he personally believes people ought to do, people automatically assume he intends to back up his personal opinions with legislation or some other form of governmental force?

[Forsakia]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9689220/redskins-name-change-not-easy-sounds

I think this article really explains things well, especially how it references that we, the white people, are basically speaking on behalf of the Native Americans, who's word on this issue should be the only thing that counts.

To quote from the next article he did.

Thank you for standing up for the right of white people to call native Americans “redskins.” I mean, African-Americans call each other the N-word, so why would anyone object if an NBA team called itself the N's? Everyone is just too politically correct. I mean, in the 1930s there was a colorful term for every ethnic group. But there certainly was no prejudice; it was just good clean fun. Thank goodness we have people like Rick Reilly who recognize that since many women seem comfortable with the B-word, no one has any right to consider it offensive. Thank you, Rick Reilly for standing up for the right to call any group any name you want as long as there are some members of the group who don’t mind.
– Eric Schenk (Mill Valley, Calif.)

Well played, sir.

http://espn.go.com/blog/rick-reilly-go- ... pt-25-2013

[Ifreann]

Oh right, I forgot "whitey" or "cracker" conjures up centuries of brutal oppression and disenfranchisement in the exact same manner as "nigger" or "injun".

Huh? Maybe you don't know Scottish Whites were held in slavery for a rather long time.

http://www.electricscotland.com/history ... lavery.htm

And were referred to by their slavemasters as "whitey" or "cracker", yeah?

---

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9689220/redskins-name-change-not-easy-sounds

I think this article really explains things well, especially how it references that we, the white people, are basically speaking on behalf of the Native Americans, who's word on this issue should be the only thing that counts.

*ahem*

[Mushet]

Oh right, I forgot "whitey" or "cracker" conjures up centuries of brutal oppression and disenfranchisement in the exact same manner as "nigger" or "injun".

Huh? Maybe you don't know Scottish Whites were held in slavery for a rather long time.

http://www.electricscotland.com/history ... lavery.htm

And those weren't slurs that were used towards them in slavery or persecution so it's a false equivalency.

[Prussia-Steinbach]

As a lifetime Redskins fan, I'm praying it doesn't happen. It's fucking stupid. We aren't advocating racism, it's just always been their name. Most people probably don't even think about the possible connotations anyway.

[Len Hyet]

As a lifetime Redskins fan, I'm praying it doesn't happen. It's fucking stupid. We aren't advocating racism, it's just always been their name. Most people probably don't even think about the possible connotations anyway.

What if the team was the "Washington Niggers"?
Or the "Washington Kikes"
Or the "Washington Chinks"

Would you feel the same way? Unless your answer is "yes" there's a disconnect here.

[Mushet]

As a lifetime Redskins fan, I'm praying it doesn't happen. It's fucking stupid. We aren't advocating racism, it's just always been their name. Most people probably don't even think about the possible connotations anyway.

You wanna keep an offensive racial slur as a name just because it's been named that for a long time?

[Libertarian California]

Oh right, I forgot "whitey" or "cracker" conjures up centuries of brutal oppression and disenfranchisement in the exact same manner as "nigger" or "injun".

So I can't be racially insulted because no one in my family was a slave 200 years ago?

[Gauthier]

Oh right, I forgot "whitey" or "cracker" conjures up centuries of brutal oppression and disenfranchisement in the exact same manner as "nigger" or "injun".

So I can't be racially insulted because no one in my family was a slave 200 years ago?

Racial insults have a habit of insinuating inferiority of some kind in the subject. Clearly white Americans have a history of being oppressed and discenfranchised and those very things being rubbed into their faces via racist perjoratives.