Redskins lose trademarks

[pondwater]

pondwater, have you actually tried to post the word in question to this forum?

No, not lately. Actually, I've seen Dave and other members post the word in question it in the past. Didn't see any anouncements or posts that indicated a change. So, no I didn't know they auto-censored it, just figured it was the same old, same old.

Nevertheless, I'm not specifically talking about your post. I'm talking about in general when people post, how is n***** and n-word any different besides the way it's spelled. It means the same damn thing

[masterfins]

^^^ Personally, I look at it as an extension of how one should behave in a polite society.  The word is offensive to a large segment of the population (both white and black) so its use should reflect that.

[Dave Gray]

Honestly, I don't even know if it's censored anymore.  It might have only been a temporary thing for spam filters.  Let me test: n*****.

Edit: Yep, it's auto-censored.

[Spider-Dan]

Back to the topic:

If you genuinely feel that the term yankee is a slur against you, I fully support and endorse your right to call for the team's name to be changed.  And maybe in 20 or 30 years, someone may actually start taking you seriously.

See, that's the thing... this is not a new development.  Native American organizations have been calling for the team's name to be changed for decades.  It is only recently that their pleas have been gaining any traction.

So if you want to argue that this means that we should also logically have to change the names of the Vikings and the Celtics and Indian Motorcycles and Uncle Ben's Rice, then feel free to make that case to the American public.  You might even accomplish the change in your lifetime.

[MikeO]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11322447/politician-urges-cleveland-indians-change-name-mascot

Now a Ohio State Senator wants the Cleveland Indians to change its name and mascot.

[Sunstroke]

Translation for the really-real world:

Now a Ohio State Senator some politician that nobody outside his district has ever heard of wants the Cleveland Indians to change its name and mascot a cheap 15 minutes of publicity.

[MikeO]

Peter King has hinted/all but said that the Redskins are changing their name in 2016. Once they do that all of these "native american" mascots and names on sports teams will be under attack and follow suit. Once the Skins cave (and they are, just on their timetable not the Oneida Nation's) the rest will fall like dominoes.

[Sunstroke]

I really doubt the size of the snowball you're predicting. While I'll never underestimate society's ability to create masterpieces of knee-jerk overreaction, I think the speedbump they'll hit is over the offensiveness of each individual term. The Redskins couldn't escape the offensiveness of their racially stereotyped "red skin" name, but what offense could the general public take from a team being called "The Indians," The Braves," "The Chiefs," etc...

I see the snowball - more like an avalanche - taking out the blatantly offensive team names in an early rush, but see it losing momentum and stopping before it wipes clean the mountainside.

Just my opinion though...I'm saving my clairvoyant allotment for my fantasy drafts the next few weeks.

[Brian Fein]

The problem is that there are people like the politician that no one ever heard of that exist, and once the low-hanging fruit on the racially-insensitive tree of slurs gets picked, they will start going after other teams like the Indians, Chiefs, and Blackhawks.  Watch it, you will see. 

Slippery slope, indeed.

[MikeO]

The problem is that there are people like the politician that no one ever heard of that exist, and once the low-hanging fruit on the racially-insensitive tree of slurs gets picked, they will start going after other teams like the Indians, Chiefs, and Blackhawks.  Watch it, you will see. 

Slippery slope, indeed.

I agree 100%! You will have groups looking for attention, to fund-raise and make money off the matter. Politicians to get on TV and have something to run on and get their face on TV's and in newspapers. This is only the begnining

[Dave Gray]

You can't be afraid to do the right thing because someone might eventually try to take advantage of it.  I can see a possibility for "Indians" being changed, but don't think that Chiefs or Blackhawks are on the chopping block.

[Brian Fein]

Please help me understand how the term "indians" is now offensive?

Perhaps the NY Islanders should be forced to change their name because it is offensive to people who live on islands.

[Dave Gray]

Please help me understand how the term "indians" is now offensive?

I'm not saying it's necessarily offensive, but I do know that there's a history of people I know going back to high school that wanted the Indians to change their team name.  They're not Indians.  They're Native Americans.  Indians live in India.  The only reason that they're called Indians is because Christopher Columbus thought he was in India.

There's even a backlash every year to Columbus day, because apparently the guy was a huge dick and the history that is taught about him in school isn't even true.

So, I KNOW that there are Native Americans who are offended by being called Indians.  But it's probably just part of the language at this point.  A guy I knew in high school was very passionate about this way back when.  He didn't have a problem with the team being called Indians, but it was the logo, paired with the name.  He said if it was a guy with a dot on his head, he'd have been OK with it.

It's not that you're using a group as a mascot, it's that you're using a term that's not accurate to reflect them.

That's why Chiefs and Seminoles and Braves (or Celtics or Yankees, for that matter) are not problematic.

[MikeO]

That's why Chiefs and Seminoles and Braves (or Celtics or Yankees, for that matter) are not problematic.

Not yet! Once some group figures out a way to make money and get attention off of fighting them to force them to change their name....it will suddenly become "problematic"

[Dave Gray]

Not yet! Once some group figures out a way to make money and get attention off of fighting them to force them to change their name....it will suddenly become "problematic"

I'm sure that someone will try, but I don't think they'll be enough support.  There's always someone trying to take advantage of a situation to get paid or get their 15 minutes.  But I don't think they're the same.