Here some facts: The Washington Redsk*ns are historically one of the most, if not the most racist franchise in the history of the NFL Owner - George Prescott Marshall - a renowned racist, named the team not as a tribute to Native Americans or the coach (he was German by the way), it was purely to avoid a marketing conflict with the Boston Braves Baseball team. Marshall championed the un-written rule of no blacks in football from 1934 until the year before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball in 1937 Marshall - I’ll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites. Washington was the last football team to integrate, and then only under pressure from the Kennedy administration (the stadium was on Federal land). In fact, Marshall was so devout in his beliefs that he finally signed a black player in 1962, 10 years after every other team had integrated. 10 years! Fight Song - The teams fight song is the melody from Fight for Old Dixie, as in the The Confederacy, but what would you expect from a Southerner of his ilk. And with his ban on black players, Marshall marketed the team as the team for the South. Look at the words of the original fight song, before being changed in the 80s: Hail to the Redskins! Hail, victory! Braves on the warpath! Fight for Old D.C.! Scalp em, swamp um We will take um big score Read um, Weep um, touchdown We want heap more Fight on, fight on, till you have won Sons of Washington Rah! Rah! Rah! If I were a Native American, I should feel proud, just having read those words. Modern Day: No one saying Daniel Snyder is a racist, Daniel Snyder is driven by money, which is why, ultimately, he will change the name. Not because its the right thing to do, but because it will give him a chance to re-brand the team and sell merchandise. For those that claim the word Redsk*ns is used in honor, and is built on Washington tradition, it is a tradition and history of racism that cannot simply be ignored, and to say that Marshall used the name Redsk*ns to Honor Native Americans is to say Hitler was a friend of the Jews. Consider this: If a team were formed today, and came with the name Washington Negroes, and had a caricature of an African American as its logo (note the hybrid Washington/Cleveland Indians reference), would that team name be allowed? What I find troubling is that with so many African Americans in Chocolate City, how is it that Martin Luther King stood for equality for all, yet in 2013 it is clear that people look out only for themselves. One last fact. Suicide rates of Native American teenagers is 9 - 19 times the national rate. Weve slaughtered their ancestors, stripped them of their heritage and history....sounds eerily familiar to the 60s Civil Rights era, and to continue the mockery of these small indigenous group, we allow the term Redsk*ns, and the use of caricatures such as the Indians smiling logo....if that were a 30s black face, how long would that last? ~Mark Johnson~
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 04:51:59 +0000