Redskin Name Dispute: Are There Better Options?

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Jonelle from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hi, Jonelle. Welcome to the show.

Hello.

My community is having a problem right now. There’s a lot of heated discussion over one particular word. Our local high school has a mascot, which is the Redskins, and people are on both sides of the topic fighting it out, whether it should be changed or not.

Okay.

So one side says it’s a racial slur and it’s offensive. The other side says it’s a 70-year tradition and it honors the people that came before us. The problem is the two groups are not communicating because everyone’s finding something online that states what they want to hear.

Right.

So I thought I’d contact you guys to tell me what the real information is, what’s the origin of the word, how has it changed over time? And what’s our community do? Because I hate that it’s all broken up like this.

Jonel, do you have a week? We can just stay on the line and figure this out.

That is a tall, tall order for an hour-long show.

It really is. It is something that has been discussed for decades, and we’re not going to be able to resolve it completely on the show. However, we can throw a few things your direction, and you can see what you can do with them, all right?

Great. Thank you.

All right.

So the origins are super interesting, aren’t they, Martha? It actually goes back to a French translation of some Native American words where the Native Americans self-described them as having red skin. And it was borrowed, you can find it in some of the earliest documents showing interactions between Europeans in the New World, both in Canada and the United States. So there is some history of that. So the origins aren’t in dispute. Nobody disputes that.

Where we start to get really interesting with the term redskins is when we look at, well, there’s a book that I would recommend, first of all. And I got a word out of it that I want to share with you. The book is called Redskins, Insult and Brand, and it’s by Richard King. And he introduced a word to me, and it’s pretendians. And these are people who pretend to be Indians or that they do a little of what Salman Rushdie called behalfism. They speak on half of the Indians or the Native Americans without being a part of the Indians or Native Americans. And that’s where things kind of get messy when it comes to the Redskins trademark or logo or name and so forth, is the people who claim to represent somebody that they don’t represent and they have an opinion one way or the other.

Oh, it’s fine. They all said it was fine. Or, oh, it’s terrible. They all think it’s terrible. And that’s what I see messiest about this.

And that’s exactly what’s happening.

I was going to say, do you have a sense of what the—they’re just two sides that are duking it out here?

Pretty much.

And they’re not listening to each other. So I’m actually right now in Washington, D.C., and I went to the National Congress of American Indians Museum here and asked them. And they are very—the people I’ve talked to there are very against the mascot. I found the same thing to be true here with the bands and tribes in Southern California. I spoke to them personally, face to face, and this topic came up among many others, and they agreed that it was a term that they could not respect people who didn’t understand the need for it to be changed.

Now, that’s not to say that all Native Americans think the same about it, but these particular groups did feel that way.

So I’m wondering who the people are who are saying that this honors the Native Americans who came before us.

Maybe the pretendians. It sounds the people that do not want to change the name are people that have been in the community for generations.

You know, Jonel, there’s a really good example right there in Ohio of a university that changed the name from the Redskins. And that’s Miami University. And they’re now called the Red Hawks and have been for more than 20 years. They did it. They pulled it off and they developed a new kind of sensitivity and an increased relationship with the Native Americans in Ohio. And what they discovered was this new depth to their culture and their heritage and what they were truly trying to respect about the origins of the word Miami, even, or the people for whom that name is a longstanding moniker. It was really interesting.

So if your community in Cincinnati is looking for a model, they need only look down the road to Miami University. Does that sound like a possibility?

That sounds, again, some people have already mentioned that.

Yeah. I just think more communication and more listening needs to happen.

Yeah, so that’s really the key, right? How do you get both sides to listen to each other?

Yes. Can I tell you one other thing? So I’ve been reading about this for a few years. I worked for an anthropology museum for a while, and we had an exhibit, and part of the exhibit was devoted to this very topic, and read some books, listened to some interviews and so forth. One thing that I found that was really interesting in places where they were able to make a change, I’m not necessarily only talking about the Washington Redskins, but I’m talking about high schools and grade schools and Pop Warner and colleges. It happened surreptitiously at first where the community introduced a new mascot and a new identity without seeking approval from anyone in charge. They just decided, I’m going to start calling this team by a new name, and here’s the logo, and here’s the shirt I’m going to wear, and here’s the flag I’m going to wave, and here’s the call that I’m going to shout to cheer my team on, and I’m going to be there, and I’m going to be a supporter. But I’m not going to say that old name. I’m going to say the new one.

I hope we can find a solution that won’t just break up the community right now.

Yeah.

Anyway, I’m suggesting that as a course of action for you, Jonelle, to just simply, without seeking anyone’s approval, just bring on your own, be there at the games, and be your own supporter for this new name.

I like that.

Janelle, I’m curious, too. Is it more the adults who are having the controversy, or are the feelings that strong among the students in the high school itself?

I definitely see it among the adults. I do not know how the students are feeling about this exactly, and no one’s been asking. So what I would like to do is ask the students and have them come up with a new idea for a new mascot.

That could be productive.

Yeah.

It could be productive and creative rather than destructive.

Right. Bring another voice into the conversation.

Janelle, I know this is a complicated topic, and we’ve only lightly touched upon a few points of it, but we would love it if you would keep us up to date on how it goes. Send us an email or call us once in a while and let us know, will you?

I will.

I will.

Thank you very much.

All right.

Good luck with this.

Good luck.

Take care.

Thank you.

Bye.

Bye-bye.

I want to mention that book again because I think it will help. It’s called Redskins Insult and Brand, and it’s by Richard King. And he goes through the whole history of the conflict and the argument and the controversy. And I think he takes a fair look at both sides, all of the arguments about tradition and respect versus it being derogatory or even outdated or outmoded.

We’d love to hear what you think. Give us a call, 877-929-9673, or send us an email to words@waywordradio.org.