Posted on 01/08/2014 5:49:58 AM PST by C19fan
It’s easy to oppose the name of the Washington Redskins and call for owner Dan Snyder to change his beloved bigoted brand. After all, it’s a dictionary-defined slur bestowed on the NFL franchise by their arch-segregationist, minstrel-loving founder. When you have Native American organizations, leading sportswriters, Republicans as well as Democrats in Congress and even the president say the time has come to change the name, it is not exactly difficult to get on board.
But what about the Florida State Seminoles, whose football team on Monday night won the Vizio/Dow Chemical/Blackwater/Vivid Video BCS National Championship Game? The NCAA, since 2005, has had formal restrictions against naming teams after Native American tribes, and yet there were the Seminole faithful: thousands of overwhelmingly Caucasian fans with feathers in their hair, doing the Tomahawk chop and whooping war chants on national television. Their passions were stirred into a frenzy by a white person, face smeared with war paint, dressed as the legendary chief Osceola riding out on a horse. As Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated gushed, “Chief Osceola plants the flaming spear in the Rose Bowl. Awesome.” (Osceola was adopted after the school quietly retired their previous Native American mascot “Sammy Seminole.”)
(Excerpt) Read more at thenation.com ...
If one does the opposite of what David Zirin thinks, you will do well for yourself.
As an alumnus, I am incredibly irritated by these drive-by commentators and their incessant bashing of the Noles. The Seminole tribe has perennially supported the university, the sports teams, and every aspect of life at Florida State.
The university is full of leftist nuts, but every one of them keeps their mouths shut on this issue; because they know they’ll lose any argument. I am proud to be a Seminole.
Just exactly what is disparaging about using the name of a great American Indian tribe as your mascot? There is no difference between the FSU Seminoles and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Will we next be petitioning ND to change their name?
What about teams that use the name “Cowboys.” Yes, that mean evil gun-toting redneck imagery. I’m sure that must offend somebody (anybody) out there so it must not be so.
How could Florida State’s use of the name “Seminoles” and Chief Osceola be “racist”? The Seminoles are not a race but a tribe whose members do not all belong to a single race.
This Gator says Zirin can go blank himself.
Stephen Plainte
• 16 hours ago
"I would hardly call the name "Seminole" racist....not even a little. The Washington Redskins is definitely a racist name, being most used as a racial slur against all tribes of Native American peoples.(ed. another poster pointed out that the word "Oklahoma" means Red People in Choctaw) The Seminoles are a nation of Native Americans of specific ethnic decent, like the Cherokees or the Iroquois. There is no such thing as the Redskin Nation, or the Chiefs Nation (referencing the Kansas City Chiefs - and not a racial slur, either).
There are a number of things factually incorrect in this article, such as the notion that ALL Oklahoma Seminoles are against the use of the word by FSU. It's simply not true. There is an ongoing debate within the Oklahoma Seminole Nation about the use of the word by FSU, and as such does not mean that the entire Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is against it. Even more, the Oklahoma Seminole Nation and the Seminole tribes in Florida are separate entities, having completely separate legal recognition from the US government obtained at different points in time. There are no fewer than three Seminole Tribes officially recognized. And finally on this particular factually incorrect gibberish, the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, voted 18-2 not to oppose the use of Native American names and mascots by college sports teams in July 2005.
Here's another: There is no NCAA restriction on naming college sports teams after Native American Tribes. The ban only concerns sports teams involved in NCAA postseason tournaments, and only bars "hostile or abusive" nicknames and logos. And guess what, Mr. Moral Authority? The NCAA doesn't run the BCS, it's run by....the BCS, which is a completely separate entity has no such ban. And guess what else? The NCAA gave FSU an exemption to this rule, citing its close and supportive relationship with the Seminole Tribe of Florida as a major factor in its decision. AS A SPORTS COLUMNIST, YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW THIS.
One misleading (and I'm willing to bet out of context) quote in the article is the comparison of Nelson Mandela to Chief Osceola. Yes, Osceola was captured in a deceitful way by the US government. Yes, he did die in prison. But if Mandela were to have contracted quinsy during his time in prison and he was not given antibiotics (something that wasn't around in the early 1800s), he would have died too. There isn't a Nelson Mandela mascot at Springboks games, but there was a time when South Africans were prepared to vote in favor of changing the name to leave that country's apartheid history completely in the dust. Do you know what happens next? I do! Mr. Mandela personally stepped in and urged the committee voting on the name change to vote against it.
You ask why people aren't clamoring at the gates demanding a name change. The answer is pretty simple: The Seminoles of Florida are the ONLY Native American tribe to force the US government to abandon their efforts of forced relocation. They literally fought to the death, with only 100 or so tribe members left at the end of the Third Seminole War, with the rest being bribed (not forced) to relocate. Chief Osceola was the leader of the Seminole Nation in Florida, and he is a certified badass. FSU fans may not know it, but the war chant, the tomahawk chop, and Chief Osceola's symbolic opening at the beginning of the game REALLY ARE a tribute to the badassery of the real Chief Osceola and the Seminole Native Americans they represent. No other sports team pays tribute like they do."
They still have their racist mascot even here in the 21st century.
My school was way ahead of its time; our extremely cool racist mascot got sued out of existence back in the early 70's. /s
Let the authority strip ALL the tribal names from common useage.(/sarc) Start with Mississippi (state & river), Missouri (state & river) and the towns of Tallahassee, Missoula, Omaha, & Indianapolis. Why stop there? Sacramento may be offensive to non-christians of latin decent who are deprived a voice.
There are several non-offensive names available, too, as replacements... Political District #12, State Farm #22, Water Feature #843. C’mon people -
Sort of funny all the comments on the premier Marxist site in the US are destroying Zirin.
How can the Indians "stay" Indian but consider themselves "American"? They were immigrants too at one time, so what's the big deal? Conundrum.
The dawning of Claire Wolfe’s ‘time’ should prove hugely cathartic.
Nobody with a brain is going to take this writer seriously.
Yo, Dave Z, FYI polls show the OVERWHELMING majority of Americans don't find it easy to oppose the name Washington Redskins.
In fact, the majority of Americans find it's easy to laugh at the lying p.c. morons such as you who are agitating opposition to the name.
I am a cowboy in the true sense and I am offended that the Cowboys are such losers.
Ah, another racist white liberal azzhole trying to tell the FREAKING SEMINOLE NATION ITSELF what it should do with it’s own name. Hey, Zinn, ya moron, last time the NCAA tried to mess with the Seminole nation’s licensing of their name to Florida State, they got to meet the Seminole Nation’s head counsel. The NCAA backed down REAL FAST.
Again, what a racist left wing azzhole...
I wonder why no one has mention a very important fact about this “noise in the headset” argument?
The Seminoles are the only tribe that fought the US to a stand still three times. That’s right people - they never totally surrendered to the US Government! While there were multiple treaties they were never fully implemented and fighting continued over a 40-year period.
When I was going through Junior High (now called middle school) that was taught in my Florida history class.
So, if I was an FSU or Seminole supporter I would go back to these leftist dribble writers and say - “Of course I support the Seminoles as a mascot for FSU! And why shouldn’t I? They are the only tribe that fought the US Army to a stand still in three declared wars.”
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