I refuse to apologize for hating the name of the Washington DC NFL team. nt

[madinmaryland]

[Cali_Democrat]

1. Oh no...do I sense a deluge of "I refuse to apologize" threads?

[freshwest]

6. Of course not. You're wrong. But I'm never wrong. So I won't apologize, either. n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

2. That's OK... I refuse to hate it.

Looks like we cancel each other out.

[madinmaryland]

3. Hi Dan Snyder!!

[eqfan592]

7. I look forward to when you start up your team, The Negros.

Maybe have a white guy in black face as the mascot?

I love the sport, but there's simply no defending the continued use of a racial slur as the name of a pro football team.

[catbyte]

9. If you wanted a truly eqivalent term, you'd have to use the other n word for the team

The name is that heinous to us. Look up the origin then tell me how you'd feel. This post is aimed at the person who said they were just fine with the name.

[Major Nikon]

11. If someone can't figure out if the term is offensive or not, they should consult the dictionary

red·skin
noun \ˈred-ˌskin\
Definition of REDSKIN
usually offensive
: american indian

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redskin

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. Thanks for illustrating my point; that at DU you're only acceptable depending on what/who ya hate.

You took my two sentence statement saying I refused to HATE, and immediately inferred it to mean tacit approval if not outright defense of the owner's continued use of the team name. You even went so far as to suggest that if given the chance, I'd start my own NFL team and call it "The Negros" (sic). Hell, the poster who replied to you went so far as to surmise I'd go the whole nine yards and simply call them The Niggers. It takes some mighty strong legs to make leaps like that, it really does.

"That's OK... I refuse to hate it. Looks like we cancel each other out." Perhaps you can find a defense of the continued use of the team name in there and point it out to me. Maybe the poster below you can find where I said I was "just fine with the name".

I find it odd and amusing that there's a furor over a word some find offensive (to say ALL Native Americans do is a lie and you know it) and whose etymology is questioned by scholars and historians, yet not a word about a picture that should be offensive to everyone.

My Great-Grandfather's number on the Dawes Roll was 29972. My Great-Grandmother's was 29909. Look 'em up if you like. They were Toolie Catron and Hester Wa-Ti Flute. Now, go ahead and tell what I should hate, or what I support by not "hating".

[eqfan592]

15. You know what, dude, it's the fucking internet.

So subtleties that may be picked up in other forms of human interaction. I'm obviously not the only one that read your post as a tacit acceptance of the name, so perhaps the problem isn't with DU, but with YOU and your inability to express yourself clearly on an internet forum.

It's almost like you left it intentionally vague just to spark this very sort of response, and that, IMHO, is a chicken shit thing to do. Intentionally generated pout rage bullshit like that just makes serious discussions impossible to hold.

[Eleanors38]

4. How bout the Beltway DC NFL team?

[Kurska]

5. Oh, you mean the washington redskins?

[catbyte]

12. Sorry no sense of humor when it comes to my ancestor's genocide for fun & profit.

And I WON'T apologize for that.

[Kurska]

20. I knew a guy with a fantasy football team named the Nagasaki Fat Men.

People can be pretty offensive about things, especially on the internet.

As a jew whose heard some pretty awful things about jews on the internet, I think a thick skin benefits the wearer.

[catbyte]

21. Yeah, ok. I'll just slough it off. After all, it's just a word, right?

[Kurska]

23. Like it or not it is the name of a nationall known football team

You're going to hear it, I probably don't go a week without hearing it. Whether it should stay that way is immaterial to the reality that people are going to say it and type it and you'll probably hear/read it.

How you respond to that is ultimately your choice.

Personally, I think the name is in bad taste and racist, but there is so much money behind it I don't see it changing in the future. When have the concerns of minority overcome cold hard cash in our society?

[catbyte]

28. And you obviously have no trouble bandying about the name & perpetuating the pain.

Do you do that with all racial slurs? It is a colossal insult to First Nations peoples and a stain of shame on America that the US Capitol NFL team calls itself that. But have at it. Who are we, anyway?

[Kurska]

29. I'm saying the name of a football team, I'm not going to be shamed for that. n/t

[catbyte]

31. So if a team was named the Kansas City K***s or the Nashville N*****s, you'd be ok

with it? Ooooooookay.

[eqfan592]

8. I'm not a fan of this "no apologies" thread trend, but i agree with you.

That people even here try to justify the usage of a racial slur for a pro sports team baffles me.

Then again, so much I've seen here lately baffles me.

[Inkfreak]

10. So start loving the Eagles!! No apology needed. (nt)

[OmahaBlueDog]

17. Unless you love dogs

...just sayin'

[Inkfreak]

18. Last I checked, Foles is QB.

And my love of dogs has little to do with my love of Philly football.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/116114587

[OmahaBlueDog]

30. They still have Mike Vick under contract

[Terra Alta]

14. I'm half Native American and don't have any problems with the name.

None of my Native American relatives do, either. In fact, many of us are big time Redskins fans.

The only thing that offends me about the team is the way they are playing football.

[eqfan592]

16. Nice story. Doesn't change the fact that it is still highly offensive to a lot of people.

And it IS in fact a racial slur, even if you don't happen to find offensive.

[catbyte]

22. How nice for you but we Ojibway are offended. What tribe do you belong to?

Were your ancestors subject to the redskin bounty?

[Iggo]

19. The Washington Racist Fucks?

I dunno.

Has a nice ring to it.

(Oh, you mean their official name.)

[rdking647]

24. a large number of native americans think its offensive

therefore it is...
change the fucking name

[Iggo]

26. And an even larger number of non-racists think it's racist.

Actually, we KNOW it's racist.

Change the fucking name!

[treestar]

25. They need to change it

I'm lucky as locally we have the Eagles, 76ers and Phillies. Who could be offended by calling a team of men "Phillies?"

Hmm, DC. They could call themselves "the Washington Lobbyists."

[savalez]

27. Who asked you to apologize for that?

[Jenoch]

32. The Washington Redskins have played their last game.

Starting next month the offensive team name will be changed to the Maryland Redskins.

[countryjake]

33. It's a good thing you edited that right quick...

When you first posted, I felt a small tremor beginning to move in the ground out here...


Seahawks fans ~ Robert Beck/SI


Personally, I think the name should be changed to the Washington Wiretappers...it's so very apropos of the region and it's even alliterative.