Evaluation of The Naming Issue Concerning The Washington Redskins

After reading the two articles on the conflict between whether the Washington Redskin’s should change their name, and after reading Chris Hoenig’s and Christopher Gasper’s opinions and thoughts on the matter, I feel they shouldn’t change their name. The coach of this football team assures us that the name of the team isn’t supposed to offend anyone or be racist but instead represent tradition of the Native Americans in a good way. Besides Daniel Synder saying that he will never change the name of the team, he also says that when he thinks of the name he thinks of “tradtions and pride [he] wants to share with [his] three children”. (Hoenig article)

This situation is a complex dilemma and not everyone can be blessed with the results. Some people want the name of Washington’s football team to stay the way it is while other interpret it as racial. Then you have people who will be angered if the name was changed like Jerry Jones who owns the Dallas Cowboys and is also a powerful NFL owner. He feels the intent of the name is intended to be good. Retired Patawomeck Tribe Chief Robert Green would be “offended if they did change” andsays that there is a big decline in references to Indian peopleand that if they were to get rid of this one, these references would nearly go extinct.(Hoenig article)

I strongly feel the name shouldn’t be changed because tradition of this name and franchise has been around for nearly eighty years. Also, various other sports teams even in the professionals have team names they could be looked at as just as offensive. Some of these teams are the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians which are baseball teams, Chicago Blackhawks which is a hockey team, and the Kansas City Chiefs which is another professional football team just like the Redskins. (Gasper article) I find this unusual because so much attention is being drawn toward the Washington Redskins yet there’s other teams which could potentially be faced with the same attention.

I understand why people frown upon the name of this football team but it shouldn’t be made a bigger issue than its making out to be because Florida State was allowed to keep their team name although the NCAA doesn’t permit Native American names. I don’t find a problem with this. However, the Redskins aren’t the only team guilty of using Native American names so they shouldn’t be receiving all this trouble. If the Redskins have made clear that the name isn’t supposed to be racial then it doesn’t make sense that the Oneida Indian nation has started a campaign to get the team name changed. (Hoenig article)

The Washington Redskins have the right mindset about not wanting to change their name. It means a lot to them and they have more important things to worry about than their team name like winning games and training a quarter back to be consistent. It shouldn’t be an issue whether announcers should use it or not because as long as there isn’t racial intent behind it then it shouldn’t be a problem.