By Jordan Long
The Washington Redskins’ name has always been controversial. Now there is pressure for them to change it. This past week, Nike decided to remove all merchandise from their online store until the name is altered. Washington’s owner, Dan Snyder, is looking into the matter and the team might have a different name moving forward. They are not the only team that has an offensive name.
With the pressure mounting on Washington, there is another NFL team that nobody is talking about, the Kansas City Chiefs. They don’t have a logo of an Native American but they do the “Arrowhead Chop” during games when the other teams’ offense is on the field. It is offensive and it needs to stop.
In the NHL, the Blackhawks should look into their logo. The logo looks exactly like the Washington football team with a native American. It’s on center ice and on the sweaters on the players wear. They even have a tomahawk on both shoulders. It is an easy fix. They could use a hawk logo which would be better. The NHL should look into this matter.
With baseball, two teams are controversial, the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves. Cleveland has taken a step to make their image better. On their ball caps, jerseys, and signs for years they had their symbol as Chief Wahoo. Finally, last season was the first time Cleveland didn’t use the emblem because of how offensive it was. With that gone, it is time for them to change their name. Their manager Terry Francona is in favor of moving their name to something else. According to reuters.com, he said, “I know in the past, when I’ve been asked about it, whether it’s our name or the Chief Wahoo (logo), I think I would usually answer and say I know that we’re never trying to be disrespectful. And I still feel that way. But I don’t think that’s a good enough answer today.”
Atlanta’s symbol on their jersey has the name Braves with a tomahawk. That right there is insulting. What makes it even worse is during home games fans do the “Tomahawk Chop” with their hands. Sure it gets the crowd involved, but it is still demeaning. The Braves aren’t thinking about adjusting the name. They need to. With enough pressure from MLB or even fans in general they will look into the matter.
These are just a few of the many examples of offensive Native American names. There are plenty more at the high school and college levels with the names of Indians and Warriors or that use Native American symbols. It is time for those to go away. Society today doesn’t accept those names anymore.
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