Why Mascots Shouldn T Be Changed

The word redskin is a dated and offensive noun which means, “A North American Indian”. For many years now, people have been discussing whether the mascot for the Washington Redskins, a National Football League team, should be changed. Some believe that it should be changed due to the offensiveness of the term. Some people think that the mascot shouldn’t be changed because it will have negative effects on the team, including a loss of brand recognition which would lead to revenue losses, and that he changed the name to honor a coach. While it might have negative effects at first and he may have changed the names because of a coach, the word originated from a bad thing and its usage with other terms is normally derogatory, the coach was not actually

a Native American, and the person who changed the name of the team was known to be a racist, so changing it might be better in the long run.
The word redskin originated in around the 1760’s.

According to ‘ENDING THE LEGACY OF RACISM IN SPORTS & THE ERA OF HARMFUL “INDIAN” SPORTS MASCOTS’, it originates from when Native Americans were hunted and had bounties put on them, and their skin was used as proof of the kill. Later it was used to say that a Native American was inferior and savage. Around 1932, it was used to comment on the color of a Native American’s skin. It was also used in films in a negative way during the 1900’s. When Native Americans appeared in films and when they were visually represented in media, they were often shown in a negative light and had the word “redskin” used when they were referenced. These things show how there have always been negative meanings surrounding the use of the word and that it is offensive to Native

Americans.
People believe that George Preston Marshall changed the team’s name to honor William Dietz, who was one of the team’s coaches and because their current name, the Boston Braves, conflicted with the name of Boston’s baseball team. This reasoning is not entirely valid. It was found in court after he was investigated by the FBI that William Dietz was not actually an American Indian, but that he was German. While it is true that Marshall may not have known of the fact that Dietz wasn’t really an Indian American, that doesn’t mean that the team’s name shouldn’t have been changed since the discovery of Dietz’s false ancestry. Plus, the naming confliction no longer holds up, seeing as the team is no longer based in Boston. Because Marshall was falsely honoring Coach Dietz, there is no longer a naming confliction, and the word redskin is offensive, the name should be changed.
George Preston Marshall was one of the most racist people that owned an NFL team.

While he might not have outwardly expressed his dislike for Native Americans or have even harbored any prejudices against them, he outwardly expressed his dislike of African Americans. He didn’t sign any African Americans until he was forced to by the government. He waited 30 years and they were the last NFL team to integrate. He only did it because the Interior Secretary and Attorney General said that they would take away their stadium unless the team signed a black football player. His discriminatory ways have lead people to believe that he also dislikes Native Americans and anyone that isn’t white. While he might not have intended to harm anyone that is Native American, its very possible that what he did was intentional, due to his history of racism, and because of that, I believe that the name should be

changed.
I think that changing the name and the mascot would be better in the long run. Changing Washington’s mascot and name would make it so it’s no longer be offending people, they would get positive press coverage because of it (or at least less negative coverage because of the name), and the change could possibly give them a financial boost over time because there wouldn’t be negativity surrounding it. While it might hurt them at first because of the loss of brand recognition, they could quickly get over that and the team could be seen in a better light. Because of the offensiveness of the word, the racism of the owner, the change that was falsely honoring the coach, and because the team would no longer have to deal with the backlash that came and I still here because of the change of the name to the Washington Redskins, I believe that the positives that come from changing the name greatly outweigh the negatives that would supposedly follow.