The Washington Redskins football team was in the news not too long ago. Their te

Question

The Washington Redskins football team was in the news not too long ago. Their team name trademark was cancelled again fall 2014 (the first time was in 1992). American Indian groups as well as Congress were protesting the use of "redskins" as offensive and disparaging. The loss of a trademark means anyone can produce gear with the team name on it. This puts pressure on the team owner, Dan Snyder, to change the team's name, but so far he insists that he won't budge. What do you make of this issue? Are there any new developments? If the team name referred to another racial group, would you find it offensive?

Explanation / Answer

While varying somewhat, national opinion polls consistently indicate that a majority of the general public do not advocate a name change: 79 percent (April 2013),60 percent (June 2014),and 71 percent (September 2014). While yielding overall results similar to national polls, with a majority supporting the team keeping the name, local surveys often ask additional questions. In three polls, although they supported the team name, 59 percent, 56 percent,and 53 percent of DC, Maryland, and Virginia fans also said that the word "redskin" is offensive to Native Americans in at least some contexts. The September 2014 national poll found that 68 percent think the name is not disrespectful of Native Americans, 19 percent say it shows "some" disrespect, and 9 percent say it is "a lot" disrespectful.The 2016 annual NFL poll found significant difference of opinion based upon age and race. Older respondents are opposed to a name change, but those between 18 and 29 are strongly (70%) in favor of a change. While 77% of all white fans believe the name should not be changed, only 38% of African-American and 33% of Latino fans agree, which is a change since the 2014 poll in which there was little difference between white and non-white opinion.

However, there are those that question the appropriateness of submitting minority rights to a majority decision. Louis Gray, president of the Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism and an Osage Indian: "You wouldn't [take a poll] with any other race. You wouldn't have African-Americans vote to decide whether or not any sort of racial epithet would be offensive."

The survey most frequently cited by opponents of change as definitive of Native American opinion was performed in 2004 as part of the National Annenberg Election Survey. Among other questions regarding election year issues, respondents who identified themselves as being Native American were asked: "The professional football team in Washington calls itself the Washington Redskins. As a Native American, do you find that name offensive or doesn't it bother you?" In response, ninety percent replied that the name did not bother them, while nine percent said that it was offensive, and one percent would not answer.The methods used in this survey and the conclusions that can be drawn from it has been criticized by social scientists,Native American scholars[8] and legal experts for years. In August, 2015, a memo written by senior researchers at the organization responsible for collecting the data for the survey which made it clear that it should not be taken as an accurate reflection of Native American attitudes at the time.

An alternative method to standard opinion polls was used by the Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies at California State University, San Bernardino. A survey was conducted of 400 individuals, with 98 individuals positively identified as Native Americans, finding that 67% agreed with the statement that "Redskins" is offensive and racist. The response from non-natives was almost the opposite, with 68% responding that the name is not offensive.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse T
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.