Yesterday, Peter King, the Sports Illustrated senior writer and guru behind the MMQB.com blog, announced that he will no longer use the nickname "Redskins" for the Washington football team. Here's what he wrote:
I've decided to stop using the Washington team nickname. It's a name you won't see me use anymore. The simple reason is that for the last two or three years, I've been uneasy when I sat down to write about the team and had to use the nickname. In some stories I've tried to use it sparingly. But this year, I decided to stop entirely because it offends too many people, and I don't want to add to the offensiveness. Some people, and some Naive American organizations--such as the highly respected American Indian Movement--think the nickname is a slur. Obviously, the team feels it isn't a slur, and there are several prominent Native American leaders who agree. But I can do my job without using it, and I will....I have no idea if this is the right thing to do for the public, or the politically correct thing to do, and I'm not going to sit here and try to preach about it and tell you if you like the name you're wrong or if you hate the name yo're wrong. I can just ell you how I feel: I've been increasingly bothered by using the word, and I don't want to be a part of using a name that a cross-section of our society feels is insulting.
It's one thing if the New Republic or Slate magazine decides to stop using the Washington nickname. It's quite another when a high-profile, veteran, and well-respected pro football writer/tv commentator like Peter King decides to stop using the nickname. He did not speak for his Sports Illustrated colleagues, or for the magazine himself. It will be interesting if this is a one-time only thing, or if his decision starts a bandwagon.
P.S. Another writer, commenting on King's decision, says his new name for the Washington team should be "Department of Football." How about "Bureaucrats"?
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