I understand and respect that Native Americans are near-universally offended by the name of the Washington Redskins and would like to see it changed. I wonder, however, if it is possible to find a replacement name that honors Native Americans rather than offending them. I’ve seen this debate go on for a couple of decades now. There was the controversy over the tomahawk chop done by Atlanta Braves and Florida State Seminoles fans. There was the debate over the Chief Wahoo mascot of the Cleveland Indians. And there have been a lot of high schools and colleges that have dropped Indian tribes as their team names.
Aside from fans acting like insensitive idiots, I wonder if it is possible for sports teams to use Native American themes without it being disrespectful in some way. My opinion doesn’t really matter, but when I was a kid I thought it was cool that the Cowboys played the Indians, even if they were called the Redskins. I’d like to see that tradition maintained in some way.
