It’s cheap shot season when lazy thinkers like Keith Olbermann (sadly) contrive links of the Washington Redskins team name to the Confederate flag – a symbol to many (me) of the defense of slavery, race supremacy and murder.
Well…
I have never seen a Redskins flag at a KKK rally. Nor have the Redskins ever won games to support social policy towards Native Americans.
There is your difference between the Redskins’ logo and the Confederate flag.
My writing partner, Scott Hirsch, astutely points out that the real insult is not in the name, but just how abysmal the Redskins have been as an iconic representative of Native Americans.
Enough of Olbermann
The real battleground.
The real battleground is in the upcoming trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia this fall, during football season.
The Redskins have never lost a case in a real Court, that is, in a Judicial Court. They will not lose this one. Nor do the name changers care.
I heard Suzan Harjo say during a panel discussion that their strategy is to continue to bring court cases. Every time they do so, they convince more high schools to drop Indian-themed team names.
Harjo has hit on something there. Big media and bloggers do not care about Native American issues. They never report the serious afflictions in Indian communities unless it involves the world’s most valuable Indian-themed sports team. Then, it’s about the team, not the people.
As long as it’s about sports team names, we can feel smug about empty gestures and not deal with, you know, real issues of real people.
I suspect Harjo and the name changers prefer to lose so that the narrative can continue with their next contrived court case.
Public schools are public bodies. A vocal minority can sway policy. There is your difference with private enterprises. Daniel Snyder’s relationship is with his customers who overwhelmingly expect him to keep the name after promising never to change it.
Never forget.
Let’s remind you casual observers that atrocities committed on Native Americans were done under the banner of the U.S. Flag and largely to the applause of the American people at the time. Why bring that up when you can misdirect attention to a sports team that did not exist then.
This seems to work for U.S. Senators, the people who could do more to fix the issues.
Snyder’s curse.
If you think Daniel Snyder’s reputation is tattered now, let him change the name and watch what the fan base does to him then. It will be ugly.
Name changers will not save him, either. You would think they would praise him for making a change. They would just say that it took him too long to agree with them on their contrived issue.
When you cannot win either way, doing nothing is the best thing to do.
Of course, defending the name pleases the community that spends money on the team. So, there’s that.
Only 30 more days until the opening of 2015 Redskins training camp and real football news.
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