NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is standing with franchise owner Daniel Snyder and defending the controversial name of the Washington Redskins. After receiving a letter from 10 members of Congress on May 13 urging him to remove the “racial, derogatory slur” from the name of one of his league’s marquee franchises, Goodell responded in a letter dated June 5 that was posted online by Indian Country Today Media Network on Tuesday. Goodell defended the moniker by citing the team’s rationale for choosing it in 1933 as well as it’s current meaning among fans…. “The Washington Redskins name has thus from its origin represented a positive meaning distinct from any disparagement that could be viewed in some other context,” Goodell wrote. “For the team’s millions of fans and customers, who represent one of America’s most ethnically and geographically diverse fan bases, the name is a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect.”
Imagine, just for the sake of argument, a popular sports league with teams bearing nicknames like the New York Kikes, the Philadelphia Hebes, the Houston Wetbacks, the Miami Spics, and the Los Angeles Niggers. Highly offensive all, no? Now imagine the team owners and the league commissioners defending the nicknames as standing for “strength, courage, pride, and respect.” What you’d have is a truly unequaled “WTF??” moment, and that’s exactly what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has given us. He’s redefined racism and a racial epithet as a positive symbol, something the offended group really should look at as a positive thing.
WTF, indeed….
In a perverse sort of way, it makes sense that Goodell would stand by Daniel Snyder, the owner who’s made it clear he has no intention of ever giving his football team a less gratuitously offensive and racist name. There’s history- and a lot of money- at stake. The NFL is a multibillion dollar enterprise that guards its image and symbolism with unrivaled ferocity. OF COURSE “Redskins” isn’t racist. How can it be when the rich, well-fed white males who run the NFL aren’t offended?.
I’m mildly surprised that Goodell, normally a seemingly reasonable sort, could seriously justify a name with strong racist connotations as “a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect.” Who is an insulting racist epithet supposed to “unify?” Even in the face of 10 members of Congress petitioning him to force Snyder to choose a nickname not steeped in racism, Goodell insists on repeating the company line.
Some will undoubtedly soft pedal this issue as just another example of political correctness run rampant. It’s easy to think that way when you’re not part of the ethnic group being denigrated by the name of Washington’s NFL team. This isn’t about being PC; it’s about doing the right thing by a class of people whom we’ve historically treated as little more than an afterthought. It’s time that Goodell did the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. Unless he’s OK with the idea of an NFL team in our nation’s capitol bearing a nickname symbolizing racism and divisiveness….
It’s not racism; this we know because a bunch of rich white guys tell us it isn’t . Problem solved, eh?
Don’t even get me started on Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves….
