Redskins: Disrespectful or Term of Honor?
The name of Washington’s football team, the Redskins, has been the cause of excessive
controversy involving racism. The team name gives a false perception of present-day American
Indians, and they are the only ethnic group subject to this mistreatment in professional sports.
American Indians are misrepresented, which makes it hard for them to self-identify in society.
According to Gyasi Ross, “Every other ethnic group gets the opportunity to self-identify in the
way they choose. Native people do not.” Washington’s mascot has been the focus of this rising
issue; the mascot has been linked to psychological effects, including harmful consequences on
children of all ethnic groups. The Redskins team name needs to be changed immediately.
The elimination of American Indian names and images as mascots has been long overdue.
There is a long history surrounding the argument. According to J. Gordon Hylton, American
Indian mascots were first introduced in the 1850s. The National Congress of American Indians
began a campaign in the 1940s against a variety of negative stereotypes in culture (1). Although
efforts to remove offensive mascots date back to the 1940s, the Redskins remain to be one of the
major violators. Court cases have shown that although American Indians have verified their
discontent, there has been no change to the mascot. According to Ross, “It’s not a new topic
among Native people; there have been those who have been encouraging this discussion literally
for decades.” Unfortunately, many advocates’ efforts to ban the mascot have been unsuccessful.
There is no question that the term “Redskins” is racially insensitive to American Indians.
“Red” is a term used to describe American Indians’ skin color. The word is associated with
mistreatment of American Indians in history. The publisher of America’s most popular American-
Indian-owned newspaper wrote, “Redskins is a word that should remind every American there
was a time in our history when Americans paid bounties for human beings. There was a going
rate for the scalps or hides of Indian men, women, and children” (Sigelman 319). The scalps and
hides were essentially trophies in American history. According to Jacqueline Pata, executive
director of the National Congress of American Indians, “The team’s name is part of a long and
ugly history rooted in racism and discrimination” (Gordon 1). Nevertheless, the question of
whether or not the term is defined as “racist” does not matter. Ross believes that if the term is not
racist, “It is at the very least incredibly racially insensitive.” It is unacceptable to call a team by
such a disrespectful term.
The controversy of Washington’s football team has disrupted the world of American
sports for more than six decades. In 2005, the NCAA passed a policy pertaining to the use of
American Indian names and images in sports. It banned the use of American Indian names and
mascots unless they received permission from the particular tribe, which the mascot was
referenced (Hylton 2). However, there are still many abuses to this policy. Washington is not the
only team refusing to get rid of its mascot; the Kansas City Chiefs and a plethora of college
