So I’m reading that the name change will be the “Redtails” to honor the airmen and then they can use that pancake lady as a mascot 'cuz she’s out of work.
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Synder owes the rights to Washington Warriors because he tried to buy a arena football team at one point. He’ll use that name. Lame, but better than the slur.
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That’s a no-thought white guy stopgap solution. It no longer honors the couple centuries we put bounties on an entire race of people, but it respects them instead. If, by respect one means “noble savage” benevolent racism. They should go in a completely different direction instead.
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This offers such a perfect lesson on where to apply pressure for change. For literally decades, arguments, appeals to Snyder’s better nature (hah!) and protests directed at the team fell on deaf ears. Less than a month after the major sponsors weighed in and made clear they weren’t going to subsidize it any longer, the name is dropped like the week old turd it is.
Lesson: the Snyder’s of the world won’t ever change willingly, but if you get the FedEx’s of the world to realize it will be bad for their brand to continue as-is, change comes quick.
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I don’t think the new name is being announced yet. The wait is probably to clear out the inventory at full price, then make the announcement at the same time as the new merchandise is ready and available for sale.
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There was a short lived tv series titled Minority Report, based on the Phillip K. Dick novel and Tom Cruise movie that took place in Washington DC in the year 2065. Washington’s Football team was called the Washington Red Clouds. Of course, Red Cloud was a famous Oglala Lakota leader. The guy running for mayor had been a former Superbowl champ of that team.
It also predicted that the Washington’s baseball team won the world series in 2054. Place your bets?
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The old merchandise will become “collectors items” and “classic” and whatever other bullshit marketing term they can come up with. They will have no trouble selling it.
It would be more fitting to destroy it, but that won’t happen.
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Right? Seeing that on BB’s front page certainly pulled me up short.
I doubt Rob would put the fully spelled-out the n-word there. Maybe he doesn’t get out how for many, the r-word has the same awfulness.
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It’s an odd blind spot to be sure. I’ve noticed that even pretty thoughtful publications like the Guardian are uneven at best. I understand from a journalistic standpoint where it may be necessary at times to use an offensive word that might otherwise remain unclear, but I don’t think anyone needs a reminder of what DC’s NFL team is called.
This is really true of all native issues, though. We simply do not talk about it at all. I’m not about to compare the horrors of chattel slavery to genocide, but they are both such deep sins that it says something deeply disturbing about this nation that we really only ever discuss one of them and even that only gets discussed when people force the subject via direct action.
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While the Redskins name had to go, I’m not sure a team name that celebrates war is a step in the right direction.
When you’re starting from the deficit they’re starting from, YES, it is a step in the right direction.
(leaving aside the issue of whether “Red Tails” would “celebrate war” or not)
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Oh no, the NFL is quite comfortable with it.
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Isn’t the Guardian a UK publication? I think it would be fair to assume readers in other countries might not know the names of USA sports teams, even with hints about where they are based.
To be honest I’m an american and couldn’t name most sports teams, the DC area teams being an exception as I lived in the area for about 15 years. I don’t even quite remember the hockey teams name. The capitols maybe? Is there a team with wizards in the name too? I’m in CA now and could only name the football team. Ask me to name any other football team by location and unless it is TX I am just making random guesses.
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Given recent history I won’t be at all surprised to see them rename to the "Washington Athletics " then of course they’d just shorten that to the “Washington A’s”
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What I meant by that is that sometimes they use the term, while other times they don’t.
I guess to clarify my point; sure maybe not everyone knows the name, but it’s not difficult to find out if someone is curious. I don’t see how including the epithet is a journalistic necessity, especially when they’re cognizant of the fact that it’s a racist term.
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As a Jew I think that is perfect. When the question of Confederate statues has come up and I hear someone say “well Robert E. Lee…he was different” I like to ask which Nazi was not so bad, you know, compared to the hard core Nazis?
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Yes. Back in the 90s the Washington NBA team’s name of the Bullets was changed to the Wizards. It was done because of gang violence.
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The Guardian has a UK editorial team and a smaller US (and an Australian) one. Might be that the US editors are more clued in?
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Oskar Schindler? He was an actual Nazi party member, and maybe actually a Nazi in more then name at some point, but if so he clearly had an epiphany because his actions later were definitely not at all Nazi-like.
I don’t have any other examples though, and definitely not of any generals. Maybe someone with more WW2 knowledge could find an example there.
However I take your main point, Gen Lee does not seem like an exception. He was not in any way secretly fighting for the Union.
Here’s how this nonsportsball fan understands the distinction
Name: New York
Nickname: Giants
Name: Los Angeles
Nickname: Rams
etc.
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