A Halt In Our Progress
One can make mistakes, it’s a part of being human. Usually when one makes a mistake they apologize and change their actions. Our history towards First Nations people is extremely cruel. Since our embarrassing past we have learned from our mistakes and we have gone great lengths to try to mend our poor actions. “Redskins” is a racial slur. After all we have done to change from our past, how can one be proud to have a team named “Redskins?” Although some may say we have bigger problems to face rather than worrying about a team name, it is still a racial slur, it doesn’t allow society to evolve, and we are taking a name that doesn’t belong to us. The term Redskin originates back to mid 18thcentury, and it is in reference to scalping. How can we have a term that is so disturbing and want to name a team after it? Many want to take pride in their team, and some show their passion by purchasing items with their beloved team name on it. We are selling memorabilia with a dehumanizing term on it, and making a profit. In a way we are saying its ok to say this word by making it so popular and associating the name with a good thing. This can “have a negative impact on the self-esteem of American Indian children” (Barry Dan, 2016). We are teaching our future generation that it is okay to use this slur. By accepting this hurtful term we are unable to evolve as a society, and all of the steps we have taken to apologize for our past actions have come to a pause here. In conclusion our society needs to take the appropriate actions to change the team name of the Washington Redskins, and replace it with a less controversial term so everyone will feel comfortable. Would you cheer for a team with a dehumanizing name towards a culture?
Citations
Barry, Dan. A Heated Linguistic Debate: What Makes ‘Redskins’ a Slur ?The New York Times, 2016.