Redskins Trademark cancelled

[itvnetop]

Oxford

Merriam-Webster

Free

I'm not using these to suggest these are the end all/be all to the discussion. But when I hear that we're headed down a slippery slope by changing the word Redskins, I disagree with its colloquial connection to solely a professional sports team. The fact that it has been associated with a sports team for so long doesn't nullify a negative connotation in most modern day dictionaries. The word Viking or Patriot lacks similar negative association in the very same publications.

I understand the complaints that dictionaries are biased or the new definition isn't the same as it was in the 80s. But the point stands that the word itself is disparaging, as defined by today's dictionaries. Whatever your complaint is about the definitions (and I know there are plenty), I don't see how anyone can honestly think the anti-name crowd is grasping at straws or pulling offense out of thin air. You can disagree 100%, but I think it's a bit unfair to say the fight against this particular word makes no literal sense.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Originally Posted by itvnetop

Oxford

Merriam-Webster

Free

I'm not using these to suggest these are the end all/be all to the discussion. But when I hear that we're headed down a slippery slope by changing the word Redskins, I disagree with its colloquial connection to solely a professional sports team. The fact that it has been associated with a sports team for so long doesn't nullify a negative connotation in most modern day dictionaries. The word Viking or Patriot lacks similar negative association in the very same publications.

I understand the complaints that dictionaries are biased or the new definition isn't the same as it was in the 80s. But the point stands that the word itself is disparaging, as defined by today's dictionaries. Whatever your complaint is about the definitions (and I know there are plenty), I don't see how anyone can honestly think the anti-name crowd is grasping at straws or pulling offense out of thin air. You can disagree 100%, but I think it's a bit unfair to say the fight against this particular word makes no literal sense.

There are lots of things considered official.

The dictionaries all define it as such, but where are there references to how that got there? I looked at the links and maybe I'm crazy, but didn't see any.

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by itvnetop

Oxford

Merriam-Webster

Free

I'm not using these to suggest these are the end all/be all to the discussion. But when I hear that we're headed down a slippery slope by changing the word Redskins, I disagree with its colloquial connection to solely a professional sports team. The fact that it has been associated with a sports team for so long doesn't nullify a negative connotation in most modern day dictionaries. The word Viking or Patriot lacks similar negative association in the very same publications.

I understand the complaints that dictionaries are biased or the new definition isn't the same as it was in the 80s. But the point stands that the word itself is disparaging, as defined by today's dictionaries. Whatever your complaint is about the definitions (and I know there are plenty), I don't see how anyone can honestly think the anti-name crowd is grasping at straws or pulling offense out of thin air. You can disagree 100%, but I think it's a bit unfair to say the fight against this particular word makes no literal sense.

My bigger problem with these dictionaries, and I know it's my bias showing, is that the term's primary use, in my belief, is the representation of an NFL Sports team. If you walk on any reservation in the fall and say did you see the Redskins last weekend, I would wager that most would not think you were speaking of the group of people you are talking to, but a football team.

If you walk into lower Philly (as a white guy) and say, on any day, did you see those n***** last week, an ambulance would be your likely ride home.

the term, in a vacuum of real world expression, may be perceived as a pejorative term, but in the US in 2014, I believe the primary use of the word is not.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by itvnetop

But the point stands that the word itself is disparaging, as defined by today's dictionaries.

The point may stand but is a weak point.

In the real world...not on paper or the internet...how is the term being used today in a generally disparaging way? How was it ever used in a generally disparaging why?

A discussion on whether to change a name or ban a term because it is offensive ought to start with the aggrieved party
A) actually being reasonably offended
B) able to show said examples of said offense

This seems like it should be simple enough. Instead the supporters of a name-change just say its offensive and move forward with their agenda. As far as I can tell its eerily similar to a Big Lie...tell everyone long enough that it's offensive and everyone will soon be offended by it.

[44Deezel]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

The point may stand but is a weak point.

In the real world...not on paper or the internet...how is the term being used today in a generally disparaging way? How was it ever used in a generally disparaging why?

A discussion on whether to change a name or ban a term because it is offensive ought to start with the aggrieved party
A) actually being reasonably offended
B) able to show said examples of said offense

This seems like it should be simple enough. Instead the supporters of a name-change just say its offensive and move forward with their agenda. As far as I can tell its eerily similar to a Big Lie...tell everyone long enough that it's offensive and everyone will soon be offended by it.

Most dictionaries don't define it as a racial slur, but they all pretty much acknowledge it as being offensive or derogatory. Some also acknowledge that the word was only used as an insult a long time ago:

an old-fashioned informal name, now considered taboo, for a Native American

Yankee has a similar definition:

1. derogatory often a native or inhabitant of the US; American


Redskin, like Yankee, has largely been redefined to mean the name of a professional sports team. Before the recent media avalanche, a vast majority of the population associated the word with the football team more than anything else.

And did the dictionaries JUST start to define Redskin as being offensive? If not, why the sudden movement to change a brand name that's been in existence for 80 years?