The refusal to rename the Redskins is far worse than Sterling's racist remarks

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/30/rename-the-washington-redskins-racism

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I watched with interest the media coverage and outrage over LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling's racist remarks. Though none of the leaked tapes contained audio of him using racial epithets, the National Basketball Association took quick action, banning him for life from the league and all its games, assessing a $2.5m fine and probably forcing him to sell the team.

Meanwhile, my fellow Native Americans and I watch as Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder and his team's fans argue that using a recognized racial slur as the team's very name isn't racist and need not be changed. Snyder insists, instead, that he honors our people with the Redskins name and mascot – and that our legitimate anger can be assuaged by donating jackets to a poor reservation in Montana.

I want to hope that the actions by the NBA could make a difference in the fight to force Snyder and the National Football League to address their own racist baggage. But I asked Brandon Ecoffey, the managing editor of Native Sun News, for his thoughts. He said that Sterling's words had more impact on people than Snyder's actions because it was easier to address and condemn individual racism than to address the entrenched, institutional nature of calling a team "the Redskins". But, he added, the NBA's actions "will pressure the NFL to address their own lack of action on the mascot issue."

Will they? NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said as recently as January that the mascot is "presented in a way that honors Native Americans," and further claimed that nine of 10 Native Americans polled actually support it. But, the poll he cites is over 10 years old and, even then, the respondents only said they weren't bothered by it.

An elder from my tribe once told me that, back in the day, some Native Americans were proud of even the mascots that were racist caricatures because it let white people know that we were still here – that we endured. But that is the exact reason this is not, and should not be, acceptable: we are here, and we are not caricatures. My race isn't a joke, and fans of the Washington DC football team should be, at the very least, embarrassed to call themselves "fans" of a racist slur. I know I would not let someone call me a "redskin" to my face, nor would I allow anyone to address my children in that manner.

For those of us who are offended by the name, by the mascot and by the fans painting up in red face – all making a mockery of my people – our hope is that this will finally be the year that the Washington Redskins will be forced to change or face some kind of penalty for what we all know is racism. Donald Sterling might not have wanted his mistress to bring black people to Clippers games, but Dan Snyder wants all his fans to celebrate – and even chant – a racist slur against an entire class of people. Which is worse?