A Legal Victory for a Racial Slur
The Washington Redskins keep their offensive name.
The Washington Redskins scored a legal victory this week. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Native Americans unhappy with the team’s name.
The plaintiffs in the case wanted the court to invalidate the NFL team’s trademark on its name because it is racially offensive. The Supreme Court affirmed lower court rulings that denied the request based on a technicality.
Even if the Native Americans had prevailed, the team could have continued as the Redskins, just without a trademark. The courts cannot impose a moral compass. Only the team’s owner can do the right thing and drop the offensive name.
The scions of political correctness unfairly vilify many mascots. Teams adopt names such as Indians, Braves, Cowboys, Celtics, Vikings, Yankees and others to embrace perceived characteristics of those groups. They are brave, strong and fearless in battle, for example. Sometimes a team can take it too far — see the Cleveland Indians’ Chief Wahoo — but the name itself offers no insult.
“Redskins” is something else. Its origin lies in racial bigotry. It was and is a slur unjustly imposed on people who suffered tremendously at the hands of those who came up with it. As a team name, it differs from a certain derogatory word for blacks only in that so many people, especially the teams’ fans, defend it.
Their response ranges from blasé to excusing it as historical. True, the name dates back a few decades in Washington, but it goes back centuries in its offensive use. The athletic association does not cleanse the pejorative use.
Besides, maybe a name change might help the floundering team’s performance on the field. It couldn’t hurt, as Southwest Virginians forced to sit through every pathetic Sunday outing know. The “Representatives” has a ring to it, to play off baseball’s Senators. Or maybe the “Filibusters” to capture the current mood in the capital.
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