Michael: Imagine if commissioner Goodell decided tomorrow that every team in the NFL had to choose a new name. In today’s political and social climate, how many of the teams do you think would choose a racial reference as their team name? Probably the only team that would consider choosing a racial slur as their name is the team whose owners once had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the era of integration in professional football. The only reason people support the Redskins name is that it’s what we’ve always used. However, the fact that the Redskins have carried a racially insensitive name for decades is no reason to keep it for even another day.
Adrian: Let me start off by saying that I am a Redskins fan and I am an African-American. Take that for what you will, but obviously these two parts of who I am influence the way I think. But, for the purpose of this debate, I will be objective as I try to argue against the immediate change of the name. As far as the Redskins in the past, yes they were the last team to integrate and had to be forced to do so, but that was another owner and I believe that has nothing to do with the current situations. If a farm owner in the south learned that their land used to be a plantation, 200 years ago, does mean that they are a racist? No, and this is an analogous situation. I think this issue has been blown out of proportion by the current day media. One of my biggest pet-peeves is that the media dictates the discussion. If they hadn’t decided to start having stories on this issue, then no one would honestly care. Whether it’s an overreaction to a poor quarter by LeBron James or in this case a discussion about a name that has been going on for a while before the media decided to hype it up, the media is always taking issues and blowing that out of proportion.
Michael: I completely agree that the modern 24/7 new cycle blows any story out of proportion, and on the list of problems our country is having, the name of a football team is pretty low on the list. The fact that it isn't a huge problem doesn't mean it shouldn't be something we can be concerned about. I don't think anyone would be comfortable calling a Native American a 'redskin' to their face. A Washington Post poll found that 53% percent of randomly selected Redskins fans thought the term Redskin is an inappropriate way to refer to a Native American. If the majority of Redskins fans wouldn’t feel comfortable calling a Native American a ‘Redskin’ to his or her face, why do they think it is okay for their football team to refer to all Native Americans with that term? Ironically, 73% of those same Redskins fans supported keeping the name. How can Redskins fans consider themselves a reputable fan base when they can acknowledge that their name is offensive but don’t believe they should change it?
Adrian: This is where I stick up for my fan base. I’ve rooted for this team my entire life. I’ve cheered the name, sung the song, and I feel legitimate pride to be a Redskins fan. Before all this started up, I honestly never thought of it as offensive. It was just the proud name of the team I loved. But my personal opinion is not what matters. I believe that we should go and ask the people who the name is allegedly offending whether or not they are offended or if they even care. There have been polls that 83% of Native Americans either don't care or aren't offended. I'm not saying this poll is completely correct, but it shows that we have taken something that might not be an issue and made it a big one. What’s more they are taking the Redskins and unfairly singling them out. There is no talk of the Cleveland Indians with their smiling Chief Wahoo mascot, no talk of teams like the Atlanta Braves or the Kansas City Chiefs, the Washington Redskins have been singled as if they are the only offender. This is not the only thing that is wrong with this issue. The Native American population is faced with 25% of people below the poverty line, 70% without health insurance, low levels of formal education, high rates of alcoholism, and double the suicide rate of any racial group. This is probably why they don't care. By reporting on the name rather than these issues, the media and all of us are doing these people a disservice.
Michael: I too have wondered why the Redskins are the only team with a Native American reference as their name that ever catches flak from the media, and we all know the Redskins name is not the most pressing issue facing Native American tribes today. However, even if the name only offends 17% of Native Americans as your poll said, changing the name would reduce that number to 0% and take almost no effort. If we change our name to something that is two-syllables, we wouldn't even have to change our beloved fight song! Changing the name won't affect our team's proud history. Drawing from a local example, changing the name from Washington Bullets to Washington Wizards didn't ruin the experience for fans. Instead, the fans still kept coming after the name was changed to reflect more modern attitudes and still take pride in the history of players like Wes Unseld and Earl Monroe, who played while they were the Washington Bullets.
Adrian: Mike, of the 83% didn't want to change the name, some strongly felt that they wanted to keep the name. Why shouldn't their opinions count just as much? And this is what I'm saying: our society has become extremely politically correct. This is not to say that the name is or isn't offense, just that we don't know and we need more time. I've heard from some sources that the term Redskin was originally used by Native Americans themselves in treaties in early America. Does that mean that the name is necessarily okay? No, but it does mean that we should just take the process of a name change lightly. The Bullets changed their name because at the time the statistics on gun violence in the area were astronomically high. Those numbers couldn't be debated; there were no two sides to the story, so a name change is in order. The Redskins situation is different because there is debate; everything is not black and white. I will say that the Redskins are a storied franchise. They have been around for 80 years and are worth nearly 2 billion dollars. A name change is not that simple, it will affect the brand. And at this point, we don't know enough on this issue to change the name.
VERDICT: After listening to the two arguments, the edge goes to pro-Redskins. After looking at the statistics, it seems that a majority of the public seem not to mind the name and have not pushed for the name changes of other franchises with offensive names such as the Indians, Braves, and Chiefs. The Redskins franchise is a storied one and it is a brand that fans have come to recognize. I agree we should all work together in the near future to discuss this issue more but at this moment I reward the winner as Adrian.
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