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Originally Posted by TAFKAS
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..."
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Wait, and I'm a minority myself, because Native Americans have been marginalized and are not a powerful political force then it's ok to continue to use the word Redskins because when we say it we don't mean it to demean Native Americans its more of a tribute?
I can't say what Redskins means to Native Americans, because I'm not a Native American. However, the fact that the word was used to describe the scalps of dead Indians, well that's enough for me. The bottom line is that money talks and everything else runs the marathon, so in the end I expect no change at all. But since everything is relative, lets change the name to the Washington Coons. Its no longer offensive, I think the expiration date on it was 1984.
As for sticks and stones breaking bones, nice one TAFKAS.