Posted on 10/23/2013 7:12:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Bob Costas is one of the premier sportscasters and a very smart guy, so it was somewhat surprising to see him join the chorus of those decrying the fact that the owner of the Washington Redskins is resisting pressures to change the name of his football team.
The argument is that American Indians are offended by the name, though there is no compelling evidence that most American Indians are worked up about it. Nor is there any evidence that anyone intended the name to be insulting, either this team or any number of other sports teams that have called themselves some variation of the name Indians.
After all, neither individuals nor teams give themselves names that they consider insulting, whether they are calling themselves Indians, Vikings, or the Fighting Irish.
Nevertheless, Dartmouth, Stanford, and other colleges that once called their teams Indians succumbed to the politically correct pressures and changed their names. But that is no reason why the Washington Redskins should succumb to those pressures.
Among the reasons why they should not is the fact that being offended is one of the tactics of a race-hustling industry that is doing more harm to Indians and other minorities than any name is likely to do. Some people are in the business of being offended, just as Campbell is in the business of making soup.
Shelby Steeles best-selling book White Guilt provides sharp insights into the many counterproductive consequences of white guilt that can be exploited by race hustlers, to the detriment of blacks and whites alike. The sports-team gambit is just one of many.
So long as the race industry the Al Sharptons, Jesse Jacksons, and their counterparts in various minorities can get political or financial mileage out of being offended, they are going to be offended. The only thing that will put a stop to this racket is refusing to be taken in by it or intimidated by it.
Looked at in isolation, Bob Costass opinion about the names of sports teams is one that reasonable people might agree or disagree with. But, unfortunately, this issue is not something that exists in isolation. It is part of a whole grievance-generating campaign that poisons race relations. That campaign is conducted not only by the race industry but also by all too many in the media and in the education system, from elementary schools to the universities.
Young blacks are especially susceptible to the message that all their problems are caused by white people and that white society is never going to give them a chance. In short, they are primed to resent and hate individuals they have never seen before and who have never done them harm.
During the same week when Bob Costas was criticizing the name Washington Redskins, the New York Daily News reported an incident in which a gang of young blacks attacked a white couple in a car, beating the man severely and dragging the woman out of the car by her hair down to the pavement, and beating her as well all the while shouting racist obscenities.
Episodes like this have occurred repeatedly, in dozens of cities, all across the country. The only thing missing in this particular episode were public assurances from police authorities and the mayor that race had nothing to do with what happened. Such dishonest assurances have been common in the wake of such plainly racist attacks. Officials in various cities are obviously trying to keep the lid on this incipient race war.
But you cannot keep the lid on forever. In 1961, James B. Conants book Slums and Suburbs warned that social dynamite was accumulating in American cities. Just a few years later, ghetto riots erupted all across the country.
Social dynamite can accumulate among whites as well as among blacks. White extremist hate groups already exist, though they are a fringe, as the Nazis were once a disdained fringe in Germany. It was the peoples loss of confidence in the respectable institutions of society that gave the Nazis their chance for power.
The blind and dishonest political correctness of our media and educational institutions on racial issues today can eventually forfeit the confidence of Americans and give similar extremist groups their chance to ignite a race war in the United States. And once a race war starts, it can be virtually impossible to stop.
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution
Just another distraction away from their failed ObamaCare experiment by the commie left extremists.
Bob Costas sucks!
So, is that the real reason Pontiac was shut down? Fear of future offense due to it’s name? Anybody pissed about the Kansas City Chiefs?
If worrying about the term “Washington Redskins” is one of the top one thousand problems in your life....you just don’t have much of a life.
A guy or gal in in such a dilemma....needs to either take some meds....take to drinking hard alcohol nightly...start hiking from New Orleans to Detroit....sign up for yoga...or marry some deranged meth gal from Montana.
The team has been the Redskins for decades. Suddenly people are offended.
Liberals have decided that we should be offended by Indian nicknames. If liberals are offended, then we’re supposed to be shocked and awed into action.
If conservatives are ever offended, liberals don’t give a blank. It’s only if liberals are offended that something becomes the liberal cause/crisis of the day.
Oh, and I'm one-eighth Iriquois with a smidge of Nipmuc dribbled into the mix. Trust me when I say that North American Indians would like this name change.
< sarc ~ OFF >
;-\
As Sowell said, some people are in the business of being offended. That is how they get attention. It's the old squeaky wheel con.
I for one am totally offended by the “Washington Redskins”. I think they should remove “Washington” from their name immediately.
“Washington Jungle Bunnies”
I haven’t heard that term since I was in high school. In D.C.
Eastern High riot, anyone?
how many US states have Indian names ? LOL Going to get dirty ,LOL
“If worrying about the term Washington Redskins is one of the top one thousand problems in your life....you just dont have much of a life.”
I think the NFL loves that the media has glommed onto the Redskins name. They are probably fine with any football related stories except the lack of HGH testing and brain injury as a result of a football career.
Freegards
On the other hand, "Redskin" kind of leaves me flat. Go figure...
;-\
I wasn’t in the Eastern High/St. John’s riot as I didn’t start at the latter until my junior year. My schoolmates still talked about the 1962 riot & used the term `jungle bunnies’ a lot. Another term was `our friends from the Congo’. SJC was a day military school & we wore cadet uniforms which included authorized ribbons & some not so.
Those who were actually in the Eastern fracas wore the unauthorized “riot ribbon” which was an all black ribbon with a white dot in the middle.
;^)
I have the best name for the Washington Redskins which would send a message to the entire country.
The San Antonio Bandits. Pick up the team and move them. Then tell congress that this is what happens when political correctness seeps into the sports world.
There should be legislation to change all names related to Indian tribes. There should be no Illinois, North or South Dakota etc.
All cities such as Pontiac, Oneida, Osh Kosh, Waukesah, etc should be changed as to not offend.
All streets named MLK should be changed as they are vastly through ghetto areas and thus insulting.
Let’s not forget the Mexicans, changed those Spanish named cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.w
Certainly there should be no New Mexico.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_place_names_in_the_United_States_of_Native_American_origin
They claim to be offended about everything, however, they send out crap like this comparing the TEA Party to the KKK simply because a 'T' looks like a cross.
Well, two can play that game. Here's mine in return:
Bob Costas, a very smart guy? He is really of common intelligence. He demonstrates this often. I’d guess his IQ but I don’t want to insult him further.
“Suddenly people are offended.”
The Dems are embarrassing themselves, let’s change the subject . . .
Remember when the leftist meme was “footballs fans are wife beaters”? Now they are “racists”.
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