Post columnists Steve Serby and Mark Cannizzaro slug it out over whether the Washington Redskins should change their name.
SERBY: Daniel Snyder cannot go on calling his team the Redskins. And I don’t want to hear the hogwash about jumping on the side of political correctness, because I’d rather be politically incorrect than president. If a growing number of Native Americans — and Americans of other demographics — find the nickname a derogatory, offensive slur, change the damn nickname. Whether it was intended or not, if members of a race, any race, the human race, considers the relentless marketing and reminders of its skin color dehumanizing and divisive … if it does not fit, you must quit.
CANNIZZARO: Why not? Why should the Redskins be strong-armed into changing their nickname? The last thing I want to do is defend Washington owner Daniel Snyder, who on most days is not defendable. But why now? Why has this become such a hot-button issue after the Redskins have played 1,170 games in franchise history (including playoffs) since they began as the Boston Braves in 1932? Eighty-one years of existence and all of a sudden the Native-American population is up in arms about the Washington NFL nickname and mascot? Forget political correctness. This smacks of some sort of publicity stunt by the Oneida Nation people, who might be trying to draw more customers to their upstate New York casino to spend more dollars.
SERBY: A very narrow-minded and insensitive response from someone who ought to know better. This line of drivel would have branded the Million Man March a publicity stunt. Or any other causes worth fighting for. This isn’t a Johnny-come-lately uprising, it’s a growing movement that is now reaching more mainstream and fair-minded ears. St. John’s University listened and changed its nickname from Redmen to the Red Storm. Miami (Ohio) is no longer the Redskins. If it’s hurtful to a race, any race, if there are scientifically supported studies of the damaging effects a stereotypical and outdated caricature has on Native-American youth in particular, change the mascot. This is 2013, for crying out loud. Times change, nicknames change. What might we hear next from Cannizzaro, that some of his best friends are Native Americans? Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the civil rights movement, by the way.
CANNIZZARO: Listening to the Oneida Nation press conference conducted Wednesday in Manhattan, you got the impression Washington’s use of the nickname was the root of the problem for all that ails the Native-American population. The “expert’’ the Oneida Nation presented in the press conference was Dr. Michael Friedman, a psychologist who specializes in the impact racial discrimination has on children and adults. He said in his “findings’’ the use of the Washington nickname — calling it the “R-word’’ — was to blame for things such as low self-esteem in youths and adults along with a high rate of alcoholism and violence and even suicidal tendencies among the Native-American population. He, however, did not back those findings up with scientific evidence. Those effects seem difficult to measure as it relates to Washington’s use of the Redskins nickname.
SERBY: It’s growing increasingly alarming to me the only use Cannizzarro has for the word “reservation” is when he calls Elio’s, or Il Mulino. Forget that the team’s first owner, George Preston Marshall, was a segregationist and the last NFL owner to employ African-American players. Ultimately, this won’t be a black-and-white issue as much as it is a green issue — as in dollars. It will end the only way it needs to end, when the Oneida Nation momentum picks up so much steam the NFL will have no choice but to move to protect its overflowing, multi-billion dollar coffers and make Snyder an offer, related to merchandise sales, etc., he cannot refuse, and then, and apparently only then, will he do the right thing. And make no mistake, the movement isn’t going away.
CANNIZZARO: I am not unsympathetic to those who are offended by the Washington nickname, but we as people are offended by things every day and there are not movements legislated to change those things because of it. There are even other professional sports nicknames that could be construed as offensive by some — such as the Indians, Chiefs and even Yankees.
Daniel Snyder, who is not thought of as a good guy in many — if any — circles, certainly has a chance to do what many people believe is the “right thing’’ here and change the team’s name. I am not opposed to him doing that. I simply do not believe he should be ordered to do so. By acquiescing to the “Change the Mascot’’ campaign, though, Snyder could go a long way toward improving his reputation as a tyrant owner who rubs a lot of people the wrong way. The Oneida Nation, however, should not hold its breath.
The fact NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was not among the league officials attending Wednesday’s meeting with Ray Halbritter, official representative of the Oneida Nation, is an indication he does not feel threatened by this movement, figuring it will eventually lose steam and go away despite Halbritter’s nebulous promise to “redouble’’ efforts if the “R-word’’ is not changed in Washington.