Washington Commanders Thread

[Sheldon]

Racism is racism, no matter who is or isn't offended, and the former name of the Washington football club was racist. From what I understand of the Cleveland MLB franchise, it wasn't the name so much as the mascot, Chief Wahoo, that most found offensive, especially considering the racist caricature that was their logo. I'm glad to see them changed, though I will miss calling the Commanders the Deadskins or the Foreskins.

Nope, when a tiny percentage of the population gets to decide what is or isn't offensive or racist, then those who are caving in to their demands are cowards.

Why would you assume it's a tiny percentage? Also, since you know what an argumentum ad populum fallacy is, why would you care if a belief is held only by a minority? 

 I'd be surprised if any real fan of those sports(NFL, MLB) were the ones who were demanding the name change. 

Well again this sounds like unevidenced assumption, and again it gets a so what? 

The majority of Native Americans who were asked if those names offended them said no they weren't.

Do we have any objective evidence to support that claim? While you're looking, you might want to look at later polls...

Opinion polling was also part of the discussion about whether Native Americans found the term redskin insulting. Two national political polls, the first in 2004 by the National Annenberg Election Survey[5] and another in 2016 by The Washington Post.[158][159][160] were particularly influential. When a respondent identified themselves as Native American, both polls asked, "The professional football team in Washington calls itself the Washington Redskins. As a Native American, do you find that name offensive or doesn’t it bother you?". In both polls, 90% responded that they were not bothered, 9% that they were offended, and 1% gave no response. These polls were widely cited by teams, fans, and mainstream media as evidence that there was no need to change the name of the Washington football team.

In a commentary published soon after the 2004 poll, 15 Native American scholars collaborated on a critique that stated that there were so many flaws in the Annenberg study that rather than being a measure of Native American opinion, it was an expression of white privilege and colonialism.[6] A 2019 poll by University of California, Berkeley surveyed 1,021 Native Americans, twice as many as in any previous polls.[161] 38% of self-identified Native Americans said they were not bothered by the Washington Redskins name. But 49% overall said it was offensive, along with 67% of respondents who were heavily engaged in their native or tribal cultures, 60% of young people, and 52% of those with tribal affiliations.[162]

CITATION

I'd only add, does a name change of this sort harm anyone in any objective way?