Post by cantonhall34 on Feb 20, 2013 20:49:31 GMT -5
I am one who voted "Needs to be Changed".
I posted my reasoning and although it has been a very interesting discussion I have not been convinced to change my stance. I'm not sure I ever will.
I am NOT naive enough however to believe the team will actually ever make the change. I think there's too much history behind it, but that doesn't make it RIGHT. Not being a widely used term these days doesn't mean it's OK to keep using it either. There is no reason to have that name for a "mascot" when there are SO MANY other ways to pay "tribute" to the Native Americans as a whole (if that is indeed the intended purpose behind the continual use of the name, though I highly doubt it) that are not offensive terms or terms that can be seen as offensive.
The Florida State University Seminoles actually went to the Seminole people and asked permission to continue to use the name, and for guidance on what would be the best ways to give tribute to the Seminoles. This simple gesture was really all that was necessary to show the respect that is DUE to the people whose likeness was being used there. It brought the university together with the Seminole people and they were both able to convey what was offensive, acceptable, etc. Some things were done away with and some were kept, but in all of that the IDEA that the university finally came to the understanding that using a NAME of a group of people to represent their sports teams with ALSO included giving the respect to that group and presenting it with dignity that defined the Native Americans.
THIS is how it could be handled IF the Washington organization had any desire to represent their namesake in a POSITIVE, RESPECTFUL, DIGNIFIED manner. The fact that this hasn't been done YET (or at least I haven't heard of that yet) shows the ignorance that they seem to be plagued with at the moment.
Some things will never change. Other things (that were traditions of people for generations, just as this has been) have been changed when the realization finally came to those who had the power to make things happen. We don't have all of our country's "old" traditions anymore. Some we are better off without. If there isn't a team that would be using ANY OTHER ethnic/racial slur as their name, then this one shouldn't be used anymore either.
I posted my reasoning and although it has been a very interesting discussion I have not been convinced to change my stance. I'm not sure I ever will.
I am NOT naive enough however to believe the team will actually ever make the change. I think there's too much history behind it, but that doesn't make it RIGHT. Not being a widely used term these days doesn't mean it's OK to keep using it either. There is no reason to have that name for a "mascot" when there are SO MANY other ways to pay "tribute" to the Native Americans as a whole (if that is indeed the intended purpose behind the continual use of the name, though I highly doubt it) that are not offensive terms or terms that can be seen as offensive.
The Florida State University Seminoles actually went to the Seminole people and asked permission to continue to use the name, and for guidance on what would be the best ways to give tribute to the Seminoles. This simple gesture was really all that was necessary to show the respect that is DUE to the people whose likeness was being used there. It brought the university together with the Seminole people and they were both able to convey what was offensive, acceptable, etc. Some things were done away with and some were kept, but in all of that the IDEA that the university finally came to the understanding that using a NAME of a group of people to represent their sports teams with ALSO included giving the respect to that group and presenting it with dignity that defined the Native Americans.
THIS is how it could be handled IF the Washington organization had any desire to represent their namesake in a POSITIVE, RESPECTFUL, DIGNIFIED manner. The fact that this hasn't been done YET (or at least I haven't heard of that yet) shows the ignorance that they seem to be plagued with at the moment.
Some things will never change. Other things (that were traditions of people for generations, just as this has been) have been changed when the realization finally came to those who had the power to make things happen. We don't have all of our country's "old" traditions anymore. Some we are better off without. If there isn't a team that would be using ANY OTHER ethnic/racial slur as their name, then this one shouldn't be used anymore either.