Does America's Newest Attack On Racism Strike A Blow At Freedom?

I'll admit it.  I sometimes start debates/arguments within my family just to gauge their response to a topic I'm interested in blogging.  At least blogging gives me a better excuse for instigating these arguments/debates that I use to only do for personal entertainment.

Should Native Americans be offended
by the name "Redskins"?

Just to be sure that I am not unfairly turning an eyebrow to things that others have made their personal crusade, I always gauge the youngest of my quickly aging clan.  She may only be 16, but she has wisdom well beyond her years, and a strong ability to communicate her opinions.

I get it.  Parents are very influential on children, but this parent has five black women, six if you count the mother who birthed them. They (black women) are programmed to be skeptics and blessed to confront challenges. I count myself the luckiest man on earth to have the love, support and squinted eye scrutiny of six incredible black women.  I mention this fact just to insure you that my wife, and the children she bore me are not the kind who co-sign anything.  Some are more or less vocal about their dissent, but all are decisive and clear in the beliefs.

My 16 year old, who knew nothing of this Redskin story before I gave her the cliff notes, quickly decided that Daniel Snyder

Is Daniel Snyder principled or stupid?

and the Washington Redskins have the right to call their team anything they want. My gut instincts aligns with hers on this matter, but I have followed this story long enough to move past my gut instinct. In life, what is a right is not always what is righteous.  White only drinking fountains were legal and a natural reaction to the ignorance fear creates.  Time deemed them far from righteous. This racially charged example is just the thing I needed to ignite a firestorm within my family.

After starting the fire, the devil('s advocate) in me quickly offered another cup of comfort to my inflamed family. My daughter who is most like me (born two days apart) quickly recognized that my cups had kerosene and ran for safety while the others either did not notice or did not care.  "What if the team was named the Washington BlackCoons and the mascot was a violent looking black raccoon" (with big lips of course)?  One person in the family immediately declared " it's  not called the black coons" and the others refused to address the question directly.  They've dodged my molotov cocktail's in the past, so refusing to answer is just as smart as anything.  Yet the question still burns.

What would you do if you were the offended party, should be a question that dampens the flame of this heated debate, but no one is dutiful to defend their lack of concern for your offense. No matter how deep my daughter dug into the depths of her sensitivity realm, she could hardly understand how something so old and overused is now a source of such pain and anguish.  In her words, "they need to just get over it".

She did say "they need to just get over it", but she seemed to have an explanation as to why.  To this 16 year old young lady, offenses that infringed on ones rights and privileges (like segregated water fountains and restaurants) are a lot different than offenses of perception.  The Redskins team and fans obviously hold the name near and dear. Daniel Snyder, and every person who wears the Redskin name does so with intense pride and respect for the name and the organization it represents.  The notion that this is a slur makes my last name, "Brewer", a potential slur or offense to alcoholics.  In light of this fact, the Milwaukee baseball team who stole my damn name needs to be more sensitive to alcoholics and change that name to something more appropriate.

You know!  Like the Wizards.  Apparently, the D.C. in Washington could stand for Do Change your name if someone finds it offensive.  Is it merely a coincidence that the newest wave of political correctness in sports nomenclature is happening in the town that created all things political?  Back in the day, the Washington Wizards were the Bullets, but the bullets on D.C. streets started to become more emblematic of the city than the NBA team who had the name across their chest.  D.C. violence prompted the magical transformation of the Wizards who were Bullets.  Did it promote a decline in violence?  Probably not, but it certainly offered some aspect of exoneration to a team, and a community struggling to find answers to complex issues in which doing nothing is riskier than hastily doing something utterly ineffective.

Was the Bullet franchise more storied than the Redskins?  Of course not, but I can't imagine Bullet fans being eager to stop romanticizing bullets for a chance to become magical Wizards.  Team loyalty runs deeper than the gear we wear or the price that we pay to wear it.  What makes our connection to a team begins from the heart of a city and exudes to the team and not the other way around.  The Baltimore Ravens might have once been the Cleveland Browns, but they certainly never played the same way on the field.  Whatever made Oklahoma City a team worthy of an NBA franchise is also what makes us forget that Seattle used to have a same but different team called the Supersonics. Names mean a whole lot, but we change them all the time and for many reasons.

The U.S. patent office recently ruled against renewing the trademark rights that the Redskins have on their corporate name due to the offensive nature of that name. The Denver City Black-COONS will soon be playing in a neighborhood near you, but we will have to create a full proof means of authenticating our merchandise, since our team name, much like the Redskins, will clearly be unfit for patent.  The message seems clear.  You can do offensive business in America, but you can't have the exclusive right to offend.

Now, bootleggers across the planet are moving to make as much legal Redskins stuff before it becomes illegal once again or before they break down and change the name for good.  In actuality, legal Redskin knock-offs will remain illegal until the Redskins complete a legal appeal. It might be hard to wait though, because the temptation of what happens if Snyder loses is intriguing,.... and here is why.

The Redskins have to win in both the court of law and of opinion.  Like it or not, the court of opinion is likely to invoke the highest degree of financial impact, especially if the court of law doesn't satisfy popular opinion on this matter.  Even if Snyder wins back the exclusive rights to his team's name, and also continues to use the name despite its expanding unpopularity, he will have to hope that merchandise and ticket sales don't undergo an attack of protest.  Until now, neither of these fears have come to fruition, but until now, Snyder's steadfast approach kept this story muffled below the realm of common knowledge. With each passing day, one more Redskin fan (who is keeping this name intact)  will pass away while another who thinks it should change or could care less is born to the world of the NFL fan. The inevitable is probably inevitable, especially considering the fact that even NFL teams themselves change hands, and Snyder can't own the Redskins forever.  Eventually, this change will take place

In the span of a few months, we have witnessed racial slurs during lovers quarrels that cause you to lose your NBA franchise, or losing the trademark rights to your business name/racial slur.  No matter what side you take, these topics are something that most have an opinion about.  My 16 year old daughter will be leading the discussion.