CBS NFL Columnist: Native Americans Not Offended By Redskins Name Are New ‘Uncle Toms’
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| The Redskins logo is under fire by members of Congress. |
Can’t say that I know any Native Americans who are offended by the name “Redskins” – or not – but now that I think about it, I’m surprised it took so long for those not offended to be labeled “Uncle Toms.”
CBSSports.com NFL writer Mike Freeman wants the Washington Redskins to change their team name, and thinks that any Native American who doesn’t agree with him is a new “Uncle Tom.”
Freeman, who is part black and part Native American wrote:
This week 10 members of Congress sent letters to the owner of the Washington Redskins, the commissioner of the NFL and all NFL teams. It was a powerful letter and did something extremely smart.
The letter to Dan Snyder, Washington's owner, says that "Native Americans throughout the country consider the 'R-word' a racial, derogatory slur akin to the 'N-word' among African Americans or the 'W-word' among Latinos."
It's about time someone made that point loudly and strongly.
These members of Congress are doing something extremely bright. They're making sure people who aren't around American Indians, or don't know the history of the use of that word, understand what it truly means.
And it only means one thing: It's a slur.
This is something blacks should get, but shockingly large numbers of black Washington fans stay silent on the issue, or they say, stupidly, the name Redskins is used to honor.
So, fine. OK, then. The city of Washington, D.C., my birthplace, is approximately 50 percent black, according to the U.S.Census Bureau. We used to call it Chocolate City.
The team shouldn't be called the racist name Redskins. There is no significant population of American Indians. The percentage of American Indians in D.C., the Census states, is 0.6 percent.
Thus the more correct correlation for a team name is the Washington N-Words.
If we're going to be bigots, why not go big? Or, actually, why not get more realistic?
Instead of a stereotypical Indian wearing war paint, the mascot can be a Sambo-like dude smacking his lips on some watermelon. Or maybe take Sergio Garcia's suggestion and have it be fried chicken.
What? That offends you? Seems ridiculous? The Redskins caricature is just as stereotypical and ugly.
If you want to know what it means to many American Indians when they hear Redskins -- and I'm part American Indian so I guess I have some say in the use of both of these words -- call the team the Washington N-Words.
The N-word and the R-word are, as the 10 members of Congress said, absolutely equivalent.
There is no outrage from American Indians in Washington because there are no damn American Indians in Washington.
The outrage from American Indians is there but since many have been, you know, exterminated over the centuries, their numbers are low.
If a new team in Los Angeles called themselves the L.A. W-Words, you can bet, with the city of Los Angeles having a significant Latino population, there would be outrage. And with the United States having a large Latino population, there would protests all over the country.
Also, if the Redskins were called the N-Words, then all of these hypocritical African-American Washington fans, who back the use of Redskins, would suddenly understand if the team was called the Washington N-Words.
So, from now on, let's call them that, and pull from our rectums that the word is used to honor blacks.
Sure, there will be some Uncle Tom American Indians who will say Redskins honors them, just like there were some Uncle Tom blacks who once didn't mind being called colored.
If you've never read the quote below, it is important, because it helps understand the true history behind the word. It comes from a man named Clem Ironwing, of Sioux descent, and was made before a committee in Kansas considering ending the use of Redskins for a high school.
"The word Redskin was taught to me at a very young age, and this is the meaning it has for me.
"I am a Native American. I grew up on an Indian reservation. As a child, the United States government and the Catholic church came into our homes, took us away from our families, and forced us into Catholic boarding schools. There was no choice to be had in this matter, you had to go. The Catholic church with the blessings of the United States government took it upon themselves to determine that we were savages, and needed to be transformed to fit into their society.
"When my hair was cut short by the priests, I was called a 'redskin' and a savage. When I spoke my native tongue, I was beaten and called 'redskin.' When I tried to follow the spiritual path of my people, I was again beaten and called a 'redskin.' I was told by them to turn my back on the ways of my people, or I would forever be nothing but a dirty 'redskin.'
“The only way 'redskin' was ever used towards my people and myself was in a derogatory manner. It was never, ever, used in a show of respect or kindness. It was only used to let you know that you were dirty and no good, and to this day still is.
“A long time ago, a group of people who had no knowledge of these facts, and who put no thought into what 'redskin' actually meant chose to use this word for their mascot. A new group of people, now being confronted about it, have somehow decided it is their decision to change the meaning of this word to fit their purposes and agendas, but again have put no thought into its true meaning or what this word means to Native Americans.”
So here we are, people actually still defending the name. So let's all call them the Washington N-Words.
And see how people feel.
By : MIKE FREEMAN
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