Boss
Take a Memo:
We've recently been inundated with complaints from the PC Left over the sports team moniker "Redskins," as if this were some deplorably racist term that is crude and offensive. Since I happen to be 1/8 Cherokee and 1/8 Choctaw, I feel my heritage affords me the right to interject my opinion. I am not the least bit offended by the name. My sentiments are shared by a number of mostly tribal high schools around the country who also use the moniker or mascot for their sports teams. The primary target seems to be the NFL's Washington Redskins, who have used the name for 81 years. I'm not sure what made it suddenly too offensive to tolerate.
The argument is that the term "redskin" is equivalent to the "n-word" for Native Americans. This is not true. It is the grammatical equivalent to "blacks" or "whites." The suffix "skin" is only added to denote difference and avoid possible confusion with communists who are known as the "reds." There are disputes over the origin, but it appears the term became commonly applied to "Indians" around 1820.
Now, what IS offensive and racist to my people is the term "Indian" or "Native American." Obviously we are not from the country of India, this has been known for quite some time. Yet for years, people were comfortable calling us "Indians" and didn't seem to mind that it was highly offensive. There are still remnants of "Indian" being used today in our culture. Of course, some political correct shmuck came along and demanded we change "Indian" to "Native American" because that sounded so much better. However, to my people, it is equally offensive.
You see, my ancestors are the indigenous peoples of this land. They are Cherokees and Choctaws, not Native Americans. They were here long before America and never considered themselves natives of the Americas. To call them that, indicates an ignorance of history, as if nothing existed here before America. My tribal people are grouped together with other indigenous tribes and relegated to nativity of your European creation. It is the equivalent of grouping all black skinned people together and calling them the n-word.
To simply ignore all the many differences in tribal cultures and label us all the same, is racist. But beyond being racist, it ignores our individual heritage and stereotypes us as one in the same. Native American sounds good if you're not one of us, it lets you forget about the way you treated my people for many years, the mass executions of millions, the trail of tears, the theft of our tribal lands and reneging of the many treaties your people made with mine. It pretends to bestow some sort of honorable tribute when the tribal indigenous people have never been treated honorably.
If we are going to venture down this road of removing "Redskin" from our vocabulary, we should also eliminate "black" and "white" and denounce groups like the NAACP or UNCF. Congress should no longer have a "black caucus" and we should just make it a Federal hate crime to refer to any person as "black" or "white" ...go ahead and throw "Hispanic and Latino" in there as well. After all, we are individuals who share equality as Americans, right? So why have all the labels to separate us by racial classification?
Or we can all just grow the hell up and understand that names are just names. There is nothing "offensive" about describing someone as "black, white, redskin" or by any other physical attribute. It's when we discriminate against that person on the basis of this that is offensive and racist. It's more offensive and racist to me, a tribal Choctaw and Cherokee, that certain politically correct persons want to speak for me and decide what is and isn't offensive.
The argument is that the term "redskin" is equivalent to the "n-word" for Native Americans. This is not true. It is the grammatical equivalent to "blacks" or "whites." The suffix "skin" is only added to denote difference and avoid possible confusion with communists who are known as the "reds." There are disputes over the origin, but it appears the term became commonly applied to "Indians" around 1820.
Now, what IS offensive and racist to my people is the term "Indian" or "Native American." Obviously we are not from the country of India, this has been known for quite some time. Yet for years, people were comfortable calling us "Indians" and didn't seem to mind that it was highly offensive. There are still remnants of "Indian" being used today in our culture. Of course, some political correct shmuck came along and demanded we change "Indian" to "Native American" because that sounded so much better. However, to my people, it is equally offensive.
You see, my ancestors are the indigenous peoples of this land. They are Cherokees and Choctaws, not Native Americans. They were here long before America and never considered themselves natives of the Americas. To call them that, indicates an ignorance of history, as if nothing existed here before America. My tribal people are grouped together with other indigenous tribes and relegated to nativity of your European creation. It is the equivalent of grouping all black skinned people together and calling them the n-word.
To simply ignore all the many differences in tribal cultures and label us all the same, is racist. But beyond being racist, it ignores our individual heritage and stereotypes us as one in the same. Native American sounds good if you're not one of us, it lets you forget about the way you treated my people for many years, the mass executions of millions, the trail of tears, the theft of our tribal lands and reneging of the many treaties your people made with mine. It pretends to bestow some sort of honorable tribute when the tribal indigenous people have never been treated honorably.
If we are going to venture down this road of removing "Redskin" from our vocabulary, we should also eliminate "black" and "white" and denounce groups like the NAACP or UNCF. Congress should no longer have a "black caucus" and we should just make it a Federal hate crime to refer to any person as "black" or "white" ...go ahead and throw "Hispanic and Latino" in there as well. After all, we are individuals who share equality as Americans, right? So why have all the labels to separate us by racial classification?
Or we can all just grow the hell up and understand that names are just names. There is nothing "offensive" about describing someone as "black, white, redskin" or by any other physical attribute. It's when we discriminate against that person on the basis of this that is offensive and racist. It's more offensive and racist to me, a tribal Choctaw and Cherokee, that certain politically correct persons want to speak for me and decide what is and isn't offensive.
