“Redskins” was always an insult, at best (and not much
good), it was a crude name, lacking even the poetry of Bruce Springsteen’s "Born
in the USA": So, they sent me off to Vietnam, to go and kill the yellow
man. The name Redskins was from
the time of the Yellow Peril and the White Man’s Burden.
ST:NG "Home Soil" It calls us "ugly sacks of mostly water." |
Some of my conservative comrades on “Objectivish” message
boards for fans of Ayn Rand continue to defend the Washington Redskins. Most recently, on Galt’s Gulch Online,
a video appeared in which Native Americans give their support for the
team. Neither a convenience
sampling nor a statistically valid survey can disprove the racism behind the
mascot name. In point of fact,
their arguments on behalf of the insult only raise basic problems with all such
mascots.
Minnesota Vikings, the Michigan State University Spartans,
the Trojans of the University of Southern California, all seem harmless
enough. So, the Atlanta Braves and
similar mascots fall into that latitude.
However, even as Cleveland should keep the Indians, the cartoon of Chief
Wahoo should be re-imaged.
The Fighting Irish are not known for their wars against
others, not even in defense of Ireland.
They mostly fight among themselves, so famously at Donnybrook Fair that
we can drop the capital letter of the locale and just keep it as a common
noun. The Boston Celtics are
honorific; but the Drunken Irish of Notre Dame are embarrassingly archaic.
We have occupations: Milwaukee Brewers, Dallas Cowboys,
Houston Oilers (gone), Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Mariners, even the
Pittsburgh Pirates, hearkening back to the wild frontier days of the western
Allegheny region.
We have no shortage of animals: Ravens, Eagles, Seahawks,
Bears, Bruins, Cougars, Wildcats, Stallions, Broncos, Colts, Marlins,
Sharks. I like the pun of the
Huskies for the University of Connecticut. As long as I lived in Oho, I never
perceived the buckeye as an aggressor, or even much of a defender. Although the
symbol works well enough for Ohio State University, they never have to face any
Redwoods, Pines, Oaks, or Maples – and gratefully, no Termites or
Ash-borers.
Maybe someday Earth First activists will object to our
forcing animals to fight each other for entertainment. For now, the names seem harmless
enough. It is difficult to imagine cheering for the Bricks, Rocks, Asphalts, or
Concretes.
But, then, English football teams do well enough just being
“United”, although some escutcheons do display mythical
beasts. Manchester United has a
devil – but so does Duke University of North Carolina. Too bad we will never see them play
against the New Orleans Saints, the Los Angeles Angels, or the San Diego
Padres.
Not all Vulcans are green; nor are all humans pink. |
In the Original Series, Dr. McCoy similarly teases Commander
Spock about his green skin, as well as his ethos of logic, and other points of
difference. It is all meant to be
accepted as jocular. However,
Captain Kirk never engages in that except for the few times when his mind was being compromised and he needed to get a subtext message through: “I am not
me. I am in trouble here. And you
are about to be.” When the NCC-1701 Enterprise first sees a
Romulan, the navigator, Lieutenant Stiles, makes a comment about Spock – and
Captain Kirk relieves him of duty. No racism is tolerated on the ship, or in
the Federation.
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