"Redskin," The Misunderstood
Submitted by rustyc on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: Music and Movies
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"Redskin," The Misunderstood
What comes to mind when thought of the word "Redskin?" A term of American Indian degradation. Doubtful: most likely when suggested to think of the word "Redskin," one would inevitably think, due to the society of today's hierarchy of cultural importance, of the Professional Football Team, The Washington Redskins. "The word redskin comes to us from the slang of the early, white hunters and trappers. When a bounty was placed upon Indians, the hunters and trappers brought in their grisly trophies of scalps, ears, scrotums, and the severed breasts of Indian women along with their other pelts. They would say, ‘Here's a beaver skin, raccoon skin, ermine skin, and this here ones a redskin.'" This definition makes it clear why Native Americans feel so compassionate about changing the name of the Washington Redskins. "Redskin" is considered to be on the same level as the word "Nigger." Some even feel that it is of lower status than "nigger" because African American men occasionally call each other "nigger." Typically, a Native American would never call another Native American a "redskin." "Redskin," as proved previously, is a racist remark, and in our already hateful society today has no right to be the name of any admirable sports team.
In the NBA, the Washington Wizards, formally the Washington Bullets were forced to change their name because many people felt word "bullet" was too violent. This is understandable because many people don't want their children in support of a team who is named after a piece of metal often used to kill people. Not only is the word too violent, but it would have even more hindrance due to the location of the particular team; Washington does have the highest murder rate in the country. If people think "bullet" is a sadistic word, they obviously don't know the true meaning of the word "redskin." Indeed it must be acknowledged that the name "Washington Redskins" is comparable to a team being named "The New York Niggers,"...
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