A recent rant by ESPN analyst and former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka blasting political correctness in wanting to change the Washington Redskins name inadvertently may have helped the cause.
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USA TODAY Sports' For the Win reported on an interview Ditka conducted with Redskinshistorian.com about the controversy over the name. Not surprisingly, Ditka had a definite opinion about the controversy.
"What's all the stink over the Redskin name?" Ditka said in the interview. "It's so much [expletive] it's incredible. We're going to let the liberals of the world run this world. It was said out of reverence, out of pride to the American Indian. Even though it was called a Redskin, what are you going to call them, a Brownskin? This is so stupid it's appalling, and I hope that owner keeps fighting for it and never changes it, because the Redskins are part of an American football history, and it should never be anything but the Washington Redskins. That's the way it is."
Ditka is correct; no one in his right mind would call a team the "Brownskins" or the Blackskins" because of the racial overtones those terms conjure. But that fact is completely lost to Redskins owner Dan Snyder, who has vowed to preserve the current moniker as long as he remains owner.
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"It's all the political correct idiots in America, that's all it is," Ditka was quoted as saying. "It's got nothing to do with anything else. We're going to change something because we can. Hey listen, I went through it in the 60s, too. I mean, come on. Everybody lined up, did this. It's fine to protest. That's your right, if you don't like it, protest. You have a right to do that, but to change the name, that's ridiculous. Change the Constitution - we've got people trying to do that, too, and they're doing a pretty good job."
Ditka, like many others, is so averse to changing the name the he cannot recognize that the moniker could be construed as offensive. "Redskins" may have been accepted a generation ago - just like the 1970s television show, "All in the Family" was accepted for its time but never would be green-lighted today.
The argument of why the moniker is an issue today when it wasn't one during the 20th century is outdated and ridiculous. Slavery once was part of the fabric of American culture in its infancy too.
Not too many professional franchises that are starting out today are fighting each other for the use of the "Redskins" nickname.
If the Redskins simply were to insert "black" for "red," would Ditka or anyone else feel comfortable calling the team, the "Blackskins?" Or "Blackfaces?" Or even just "Blacks?"
The argument has become more of a political issue than a common-sense one. It's as if Snyder, Ditka and the pro-Redskins folks are resistant to change because of what they feel is a politically correct lecture about the moniker, rather than examining how the name might be construed.
And for the NFL, which has backed Snyder's decision to fight off pressure of a name-change, seemingly is looking at the issue as a protection of the brand of one of its products. That seems to be superseding the determination of whether the moniker can be construed as derogatory.
Sadly, it appears the only way the Redskins would be on their way to changing the moniker is how the program and the program's bottom line is affected by the controversy.
Ditka likely will never change his mind about the Redskins moniker, and it appears Snyder and the NFL also have their minds made up.
For those of whom object to the moniker, they're going about the strategy all wrong. Instead of quoting dissenting Native Americans and others about the insult of using the moniker, they should be trying to come with plans of marketing a new moniker than would make more money for the team and the NFL.
That seems to be the only way Daniel Snyder - and Mike Ditka - will listen.
Unless the Ditka rants continue to point out how much better "Redskins" sounds than "Brownskins."
Will the Washington Redskins change their moniker within the next five years? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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