The Washington Redskins are going to change their name
Change is uncomfortable, but necessary...
Today we’re going to use the political cartoonist’s best friend – extrapolation – to make a few points about the names of certain sports teams.
ex-tra-po-la-tion/noun:
1. The action of estimating or concluding something by assuming that existing trends will continue or a current method will remain applicable.
(I could have also used “exaggeration” but I think “extrapolation” makes me sound smarter and I can use all the help I can get.)
And away we go.
If basing a team name on skin color is OK – in this case “Redskins” – how would you feel about a team called the Detroit Darkies or Ypsilanti Yellow Peril? (And, yes, I will use alliteration as often as possible.)
If those last two names are offensive (and they are) why is Redskins OK? (And it’s not.)
So when I heard the Washington Redskins decided to change their name, I figured it was about time. “Redskins” is clearly offensive, but I was a little less sure about the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves and the Kansas City Chiefs.
I mean what’s offensive about the word “Chiefs”…isn’t being a Chief a good thing?
But then I saw a picture of a Chiefs’ fan, wearing a war bonnet doing a “tomahawk chop” and looking like he may have had one too many over-priced beers.
It’s not just the team name
Once again, we extrapolate.
Let’s say we have a football team named the Los Angeles Latinos. Nothing offensive about the word “Latino” so no harm, no foul. But now let’s say the Los Angeles Latinos’ fans show up wearing oversized sombreros and play “La Cucaracha” every time their team scores a touchdown.
And how about the totally imaginary Houston Hebrews?
What if their fans should up dressed as Orthodox Jews and shouted “It’s a Mitzvah” every time their team did something good?
Clearly, those last two examples would be incredibly offensive even though the original team name might be considered neutral. So if those are offensive (and they are) why is it OK to wear war bonnets and do a “tomahawk chop”? (And it’s not.)
So it’s not just the team name; it’s also the offensive behavior that goes along with it and you can blame that on the very fans that don’t want to their team to change names so they can continue to get drunk and do racist stuff they find amusing.
Teams change names all the time
Some fans act like their favorite team’s name was inscribed on stone tablets and hand delivered by Moses:
“And thou shalt be known as the New York Yankees.”
But the Yankees originally played in Baltimore and were known as the Orioles, moved to New York and were called the Highlanders and only later became the Yankees.
According to Yahoo Sports, which appeared to lift the story from ESPN before I lifted the information to use here, in the last 25 years six teams have changed their name without moving to a new location.
The Washington Bullets became the Washington Wizards and it sounds like the main reason was the crime rate in Washington, D.C. The team wanted a new image.
The Tennessee Oilers became the Tennessee Titans because Oilers made sense when the team was in Houston, but after a couple years in Tennessee they decided to change the name.
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim became the Anaheim Ducks.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays became the Rays.
The New Orleans Hornets became the New Orleans Pelicans.
When New Orleans dropped the Hornets name, the Charlotte Bobcats grabbed it.
I actually had to look up the name the Angels ball club is currently using because as I recall they used to be the California Angels, the Anaheim Angels and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Apparently they are currently the Los Angeles Angels, but if you’re a fan I wouldn’t get that tattooed anywhere prominent.
When it serves their interest teams change names all the time and do it for way worse reasons than shedding a racist past.
The good part of being uncomfortable
If you’ve got two brain cells to rub together current events are making a lot of people examine their beliefs and assumptions and coming to some uncomfortable conclusions.
That includes me, although some people might think I’ve overestimated my number of brain cells.
I never thought much about living in Jackson County (named after a slave owning president) or Confederate statues honoring racists or the offensive racial stereotyping of white people pretending to some half-assed, Hollywood version of American Indians. But now I have thought about those things and see why some people find them offensive.
Lots of people (once again, I’m included) find change uncomfortable, but change and being uncomfortable is how we evolve. I’m guessing slave owners found the inability to own another human being highly inconvenient, but that didn’t stop us from abolishing slavery.
So whatever the Washington football team decides to call itself I’m pretty sure we’ll all get over it and eventually focus on more important issues.
Like getting Norte Dame to find another name and dump the Fighting Irish.
Really…a goddamn leprechaun?