Should the Redskins change their name?
![]()
Judge Sides With Redskins in Suit Over Team Name
By JOSEPH WHITE
The Associated Press
Friday, July 11, 2008; 2:31 PM
WASHINGTON—A federal judge has sided with the Washington Redskins in a
lawsuit brought by American Indians who consider the team’s name
racially offensive.
A group of Native Americans has been trying to get the courts to cancel
the Redskins’ trademark so that the team could no longer market its
name.
But a U.S. district judge in Washington says the plaintiffs waited too
long to bring their case to court. She added that her ruling does not
decide “the appropriateness of Native American imagery for team names.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am a life long Redskin fan and I think the team should change the
name. I do not think there is a statute of limitations on being wrong
just like there is no statute of limitation on murder or war crimes.
Most dictionaries I looked in still define the word Redskin as a racial
slur. The only updates I have seen refer to Redskin potatoes. I am not
a fan of the politically correct parade but in this case I think
something so blatantly obvious should be corrected.
To me it boils down to this question: Why was the word created? The
answer is that it describes the practice of turning in native American
scalps (after a scalping) for bounty. IMO this is not about tradition
because some people tried to justify slavery and Jim Crow practices
with arguments about tradition. This is about correcting something
wrong and I see no statute of limitations on correcting a mistake.
As usual I would love to hear your thoughts on the issue.