What's in a Team Name?

On Monday, August 19, the Pittsburgh Steelers will travel to FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, to play the National Football League franchise of Washington, D.C., in an exhibition game.

Or I could have said "Redskins."

What's in a name?

There is another outbreak of a long-simmering controversy regarding the name of the Washington team.  Three Washington-based non-football media outlets have vowed to banish the nickname from their coverage:  online magazine Slate, The New Republic, and Mother Jones.  Powerhouse The Washington Post refuses to go along.  Neither do the major TV networks nor ESPN.  A recent AP poll showed that nationally, "Redskins" still enjoys widespread support.  79% of those surveyed think that the team should not change its name.  Only 11% think the name should be changed.  A similar poll in 1992 said 89% supported the use of the name.

A short google/wikipedia search turned up the information that about 55 high schools across the U.S. still use "Redskins" as their team nickname.  (Although last week two New York schools using "Redskins" decided to change their name.)  A whole bunch use Indians, Apaches, Braves, Chiefs, Comanches, Mohawks, Savages, Seminoles, and Tribe. 

In the pro ranks there are the Atlanta Braves (with their "tomahawk chop"), Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs, and Chicago Blackhawks.  Prominent colleges are the Florida State Seminoles, San Diego State Aztecs, and the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.  

The number of "ethnic" and "national" names could be extended:  Vancouver Canucks, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Vikings, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Eskimos, Southern Cal Trojans, West  Viriginia Mountaineers, Iona Gaels, Idaho Vandals, and the well-known Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Fighting Scots.

Several colleges have abandoned references to native Americans in recent years.  Marquette (from Warriors to Golden Eagles), St. John's (from Redmen to Red Storm), UMass (from Redmen to Minutemen/women), St. Bonaventure (from Brown Indians to Bonnies), Stanford (from Indians to Cardinal), Southeastern Oklahoma State (from Savages to Savage Storm), and Quinnipiac (from Braves to Bobcats).

So what about the "Redskins"?

It's obvious that the name is not going to change soon.  Football team owner Dan Snyder has repeatedly said he will not change

the name.  Their general manager, Bruce Allen, said, "There is nothing that we feel is offensive, and we're proud of our history."

Their fan base is rock-solid, among the most passionate in the NFL (despite the lack of success of the team in the past two decades).  And the fans love their burgundy and gold " 'Skins".

But I am persuaded by other voices.  One writer said twenty years ago, would you accept a "Washington Negroes" or "Washington Jews" nickname?   One could go down the list for all the offensive slurs for Jews, Poles, Italians, Slovaks, native Americans.  How about the "Washington N-word players"?  In February the National Museum of the American Indian held a daylong symposium on the use of Indian mascots by sports teams.  Museum director Kevin Gover, of the Pawnee Nation, said the word "redskin" was "the equivalent of the n-word."  The Washington City Paper now substitutes the name Pigskins for the football team.

In 1997 the owner of the the NBA franchise in Washington, the Bullets, decided the nickname was inappropriate because of its association with urban violence.  The team became the Wizards.

(Kudos to Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/14/2013.)

It's long overdue for the nickname "Redskins" to disappear.  The name is insensitive and an ethnic slur.  It has to go.

Now let's see, what new names can we suggest for the team?  The Washington Federals?  Generals?  Bureaucracy?  Lobbyists?  Constitutionalists?   Supremes?   I know, the Washington Gridlock!