History of Organization and Name Originally named the Boston Braves, the Washington Redskins remain known for their legacy and team history. Under the ownership of George Person Marshall, Vincent Bendix, Jay O’Brien and Dorland Dolye, the Boston Braves were born as part of the NFL franchise in 1932. Shortly after in 1933, they renamed the Boston Redskins, followed by another name change when they reestablished in Washington D.C as the Washington Redskins in 1937; and made the Griffith Stadium their new home. Over the decades, the professional football team obtained a number of NFL championship titles such as their Super Bowl victories in 1983, 1988, and 1992. The Redskins became highly recognized and attracted a new fan base throughout the country by creating their own radio and television network in 1944 and 1950. They also stay notorious for their magnificent marching band that entertains fans in the stadium by performing the team’s fight songs such as, “Hail to the Redskins.” Their most successful head coach, Joe Gibbs took over in 1981 and after an 11 year break returned in 2003. Under Gibbs leadership, the Redskins won a number of championships and received the NFC title over the Cowboys, one of the greatest highlights in Gibbs career as head coach. Name Controversy In recent years, the Redskins have faced controversy for their name as, racial and derogatory toward the Native American culture. Local Native American tribes feel that the name “Redskins” is a racial slur directed towards their ethnicity when they were forced to quit practicing their traditions and cultures. Although the Redskins have had their name for the last 81 years, during the last decade Native American tribes and Congress have expressed the need to ... ... middle of paper ... ...ed in voting would fill out their basic information along with an email address to allow them to vote only once in the poll. After one email address is registered to the site, it will not allow the same email address to vote. As we discussed in the strategy, those who register and vote are randomly entered in giveaways, as well as automatically receiving a 10% off coupon for the official store for exclusive Redskins merchandise and apparel. Recap Through this campaign we are expecting to raise acceptance and awareness to the Redskins brand. This fan interactive voting promotion are building blocks to enhance the team’s brand identity in hopes of having a team name that is locally and nationally accepted. In addition to national acceptance, we are anticipating merchandise and apparel to increase by 10% and overall get new and loyal fans revamped about the Redskins.
The new owners of the Packers barely survived the first season with the limited resources and horrible weather. A game against Columbus Panhandles was played in a storming rain and lost, not only the game, but also lost $1,500. On Thanksgiving it rained for 12 hours and ruined what was called booster day, a non-league game against Duluth. Club officials nearly canceled the game, but Andrew Turnbull persuaded them to play,he said if they played he would rally Green Bay’s business community behind the team once the season was over, and with that he did. The Packers were now a community-owned team, and the investors were the fans. In 1927 the NFL decided to cut half of it’s franchise. Almost every small team was cut, but the Packers were lucky.
The NCAA and the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma seem to find this as being racist and demeaning to the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The NCAA, at first, was against it for the previous reasons until they were aware that the Seminole Tribe was in favor of the mascot because it respects their traditions and displays a tribute to them. The NCAA went on to grant a waiver to the school and remove them from their list of colleges that use hostile or abusive imagery towards Native American groups. It is thought that using a mascot with references to certain Native American tribes or traditions is racist, but in fact it is really promoting the culture of the tribe and the traditions of the tribe. The Washington Redskins have seen the name Redskins under scrutiny by the public frequently, but when the president was asked about it he described the team name to be a courageous symbol, and that it shows the strength of the Native Americans. The reference to strength shows the respect they have for them because a football team wouldn’t want to be called something that wasn’t very courageous. It is a sign of respect from the organization using a Native American mascot to the Native American people. It also shows respect to the culture and promotes it letting more people become aware of the bright history of the American Indians. If a school would choose to use a mascot that has any
I awaited the day before the big game in nervous apprehension. Would the Red Sox be able to rebound from a 0-2 series deficit and advance to face the Yankees? They had already won two straight games and evened the series at 2-2. The next game would be the do or die situation. I stylishly dressed in all of my Red Sox apparel (even the lucky red socks) and prepared for an invigorating game. Mike from the third floor came down to the first floor lounge to watch the big game. Being from Cleveland, Mike was sporting all of his Indians apparel. For the next the 3 hours Mike would be my most bitter enemy. Mike was the antichrist. We would swear at each other, hurl projectiles at each other, and possibly even have an outright brouhaha if things got out of control. In the bottom of the second inning, the Indians got 2 hits, which spawned an outrageous reaction from mike. He sprung from his seat, arms failing about, and began to do a mock Indian dance in front of me. "Sit your silly ass down," I probably yelled. Then he began to do the tomahawk chop to his fabulously clichéd rendition of an Indian chant, "Ohhhh oh oh oh Ohhhh oh oh oh." I looked up at Mike's hat. The Cleveland Indian logo goofily stared down at me.
The same article also addresses the fact that the mascot name "Redskins" is racist. Many people do not know the origin of this racial slur. It comes from when Native Americans were being hunted for bounties. In order to get said bounty, one had to bring
They have made efforts to change the logo, name, and the cheerleading squad name. In the past, Native Americans have had a hard time making positive progress with changes within the organization due to the organization receiving patents for these symbols in the early sixties and seventies. Despite this years later, September 10, 1992 Suzan Harjo and six Americans filed a petition with the Patent and Trademark Office asking for the revocation of the team’s six federal trademark registrations. After thirteen years of waiting for ruling on the Harjo case the Supreme Court declined to accept the Harjo petition. This was a large blow to the Native American efforts to make a change within the organization. Finally, after many years of waiting on June 18, 2014 over twenty years since the Harjo petition was filed the Trademark and Trial Appeal Board got rid of all Washington Redskins patents. Since then the Redskins organization has appealed the ruling in efforts to keep their teams traditions and no changes within the organization have been made.
Just as you can not and should not trade mark a swastika, the same principle applies to the Redskins name, it really does not matter if the creator of the team or the word had the intent to disparage. It actively is degrading and has a history of being disparaging to the Native American population.
Chink, wetback, nigger, honky; all of these words have been deemed racist by their respective races and therefore, are rarely used in a neutral sense. However America has vastly overlooked the racist nature of the word “redskins”; making it the name for the football team located in the Nation’s capital. In recent years, Native Americans have gained traction in the fight against the team’s name, yet many non-natives claim they are honoring the culture and heritage. Even President Obama suggested a call for change, mentioning that if it offended a large group of people, that the team should consider retiring the name (Sappenfield). The term “redskins” is racist because it perpetuates stereotypes, and was first coined as an inaccurate, demeaning way to describe the first people of what is now America.
In the collective effort of the American masses to become increasingly politically correct and sensitive of human rights, there has been much debate regarding the Washington Redskins appropriation of Native American culture in their team name and logo. Other sports teams Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Chiefs also use race and ethnicity derived iconography that some believe also belittles the sordid legacy of the near extermination of American Indians by white colonist-invaders. However, the Redskins seem to garner more attention and controversy in recent times due to the interesting decision of the US Patent and Trademark office to revoke the Redskins’ team name. According to MSNBC reports, “The United States Patent and Trademark Office…cancelled
Warriors, indians, savages, seminoles, redskins, braves, chiefs. All of these native american have been used to describe the mascot of a sports team. Of course, to any average, non-native american person, this may just seem like everyday talk. It may seem borderline meaningless, however, to native americans, it means something a little different. In recent years the debate over these mascots has been on the rise and in the headlines. Many native american activists see the use and representation of native americans as a team mascot as very offensive and their fight is for cultural sensitivity. These activists have especially targeted big teams like NFL teams such as the Redskins- a derogatory term to describe native americans.
Redskins, a name of honor or dishonor? There has been controversy that involves the name and logo a National Football League (NFL) team named the Washington Redskins. Many people believe the use of Native American names and symbols by non-native sports teams, is a detrimental form of ethnic stereotyping. President Barack Obama discussed issues of culture and professional football on an interview with the Associated Press (AP), stating that the Washington Redskins football team should consider a new name. In response, Lanny Davis, an attorney for the Redskins, argued that President Obama is not aware polls taken in 2004 and 2013 that reveal Native Americans weren’t bothered by the name “Washington Redskins”. Although President Barack Obama and
Most people do not know where the term “Red Skins” originally came from. According to the article “Racism American Style and Resistance to Change: Art Education’s Role in the Indian Mascot Issue.” By: Elizabeth M. Delacruz states that the term “Red Skins” was originally used by white settlers as a way to count the number of Indian scalps collected by Indian exterminators. People put these names without even knowing any solid, basic background information. The dictionary defined term of the word “Red Skins” is defined as a racial slur,that should not be used in sports. Given all that information on why Native American mascots should be banned people still do not understand, nor understand the effects on the Native people. Thousands of fans mock Native American culture in Braves team from Atlanta. At some point there needs to be a line drawn to what is okay and what is offensive towards others. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be okay if the Washington State football team decided to have their team called the Washington Negros. The majority of people are well informed of the dark past of the African Americans, therefore no one would cross such a line and go as far as naming their team after being aware of such a tragic, dark past of the African Americans. As for the” Red Skins” it is just as racist, and and offensive as the slur word for African Americans. All
It has been decided by the California State Legislature to approve the ban on use of Redskins as a mascot for Calaveras High School. By 2017, four high schools in California will have to phase out of their use of the Native American mascot. To some this is doing justice in defense to the Native Americans, but to others it is taking away a proud tradition of honoring them. For one to be reasonably offended one must understand both sides of the argument. As Calaveras High School, we are using the name in honor, pride, and respect but to others we are “politically incorrect.” Calaveras succeeds in showing the respectful and proud side of honoring the name Redskins, established relationships with the local Native Americans, and they have presented us with gifts such as the beautiful baskets that are still present in our front office. Everyone has their own way to define words and is entitled to their opinion including the group of people that have a negative definition of Redskin. Their belief is that the term is mocking, offensive, and racist. In 2005, a Native American Intellect named Ives Goddard of Smithsonian Institution studied and found
According to a 2014 report from FiveThirtyEight over 2,000 U.S. sports teams still had names referencing Native Americans. Names like Redskins and Savages are Included. Sports teams with Native American mascots reinforce mocking stereotypes of Native Americans which are simply untrue. These stereotypes are negative and harmful to the Native American People. The stereotypes present a misleading image of Native American people, and feed the consequential myths that have been used to conceal the history of Native
The use of Native American mascots is racist. One false stereotype that is perpetuated by these mascots is — Native people were bloodthirsty killers. The main cause of the stereotypes are the caricatures. They can be seen as offensive, and should not be used unless honoring them. The Redskins are often the
The Dallas Cowboys first Super Bowl victory in came in 1972. The Cowboys started the game recovering a fumble and ending up getting a field goal. Later in the half the Cowboys scored a touchdown, but also allowed the dolphins a field goal. The cowboys then scored two more times and held the Dolphins scoreless.