By defending racist team names, owners invite others to join in on
the racism, by convincing them that this is all OK. That this is racist
name v. racist name only makes things worse, but it’s not like this is the first time this sort of thing has come up.
There’s a reason that horribly racist team boosterism doesn’t pop up around Pirates or Packers games, while it’s a minefield around teams like the Redskins or the Chiefs — you can only avoid making a racist statement by ignoring the symbolism of the name (i.e., a generic “Go Braves!” instead of the more team-specific “tomahawk chop”).
And if you can’t talk about what the team’s name means without risking making an unintentionally racist statement, then the name itself is obviously the problem. Rename them the Washington Minutemen and be done with it. Otherwise, these sort of incidents will keep happening, simply by virtue of their being well nigh unavoidable.
The Sonic franchise has since apologized, but this would never have happened in the first place if it was Dolphins vs. Steelers.
Racist team name is racist. At this point, it’s pretty much indisputable.
There’s a reason that horribly racist team boosterism doesn’t pop up around Pirates or Packers games, while it’s a minefield around teams like the Redskins or the Chiefs — you can only avoid making a racist statement by ignoring the symbolism of the name (i.e., a generic “Go Braves!” instead of the more team-specific “tomahawk chop”).
And if you can’t talk about what the team’s name means without risking making an unintentionally racist statement, then the name itself is obviously the problem. Rename them the Washington Minutemen and be done with it. Otherwise, these sort of incidents will keep happening, simply by virtue of their being well nigh unavoidable.
The Sonic franchise has since apologized, but this would never have happened in the first place if it was Dolphins vs. Steelers.
Racist team name is racist. At this point, it’s pretty much indisputable.
