[SmootSmack]

It admittedly does get increasingly difficult to pretend that the team's name does not have some other connotation. And the really cold fact is that, because Native Americans have been so marginalized in our society (once their society), that the offensiveness passes unnoticed because there is really no one around to hear the tree fall in the forest. Naturally, a name that gave that kind of depiction to Blacks or Puerto Ricans like me would get shouted down because there are enough people in that constituency with enough of a relevant voice sure to tell society that that is unacceptable.

Couple of ironies though. One is that the fact is that when you say the word "Redskins" in so-called mainstream U.S. society, what people think of first IS the football team, and NOT the ethnic group. Another is that research that an area law firm has done on behalf of the Danster reveals that Native Americans themselves throughout the years at all levels of sport have themselves named their teams Redskins. Plus there were the results of that Sports Illustrated poll I had posted earlier.

When people talked about "niggers" that word was laced with hatred and a misguided superiority at the time it was being said, with violence, lynchings, separate restrooms, back of the bus, you name it. But when we say the word Redskins today, there is no associated hatred or sense of supremacy vis a vis Native Americans; the word comes out of the mouth without any associated negative baggage. Sure, it is the same "word," but the substance is not the same at all. The prevailing argument is that we should dispense with the word because it is offensive and does not represent our society today. But since we know that it does not represent today's society, then the alleged offensive substance of the word has already been rendered meaningless ! Even on the team itself, I don't remember anyone thinking Mark Rypien was dumb or reviled as the quarterback because he was Native American; of course not. So, where is the real offensiveness? What was that we learned in school, "sticks and stones may break my bones..."

During the first Joe Gibbs era, and hopefully this one, as far as the Washington Redskins were concerned specifically to be called a "true Redskin" was a badge of honor in the sports world and in the local community, as it stood for humble guys who worked hard on the field with great teamwork and gave to the community off of it. It was hardly disparaging at all and really had nothing to do with offending Native Americans b/c again, Redskin conjured up the image of Darrell Green, not Sitting Bull.

As minority, I sometimes feel a bit perplexed that minorities in the U.S. would look so quickly to self-identify as hyphenated, and to marginalize themselves by choosing to direct their collective energy to take up the cause of being offended by labels and semantics.

There is oppression; there is discrimination; there is racism, yes yes yes, these are sad facts for which work still remains to be done. But for all the truly disadvantaged, it's guys like me, that through some dumb luck did happen to land at a good university, with all the same opportunities and advantages as those that are considered the not disadvantaged. And with that in front of us, placed on a level playing field, it just seems like the biggest disservice to the people that we claim to be outraged on behalf of, if what we did then is run ourselves off the road by grieving about offensive names, when we actually were being given the opportunity, not to protest outside the system or even grieve within it trying to advocate for our allotted "portion," but to truly become part of it, be the system itself, sit at the head of the table and reform and redefine it.