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104-538: A reclaimed or reappropriated word is a word that was at one time pejorative but has been brought back into acceptable usage, usually starting within its original target, i.e. the communities that were pejoratively described by that word, and later spreading to the general populace as well. Some of the terms being reclaimed have originated as non-pejorative terms that over time became pejorative. Reclaiming them can be seen as restoring their original intent. This, however, does not apply to all such words as some were used in

208-455: A " Basket of deplorables ". Many Trump supporters endorsed the phrase. Donald Trump also played the song " Do You Hear the People Sing? " from the musical Les Misérables as an introduction to one of his rallies, using a graphic captioned "Les Deplorables". Subsequently, Trump called Clinton a " nasty woman " during the final presidential debate, resulting in that expression being described as

312-525: A "rallying cry" for women. It was soon featured on merchandise and used by Clinton's campaign surrogates. One of the older examples of successful reclaiming is the term Jesuit to refer to members of the Society of Jesus . This was originally a derogatory term referring to people who too readily invoked the name of Jesus in their politics, but which members of the Society adopted over time for themselves, so that

416-532: A 2024 poll, the Washington Post found that a majority of local fans dislike the name Commanders, but do not favor a return to the old name. In August 2024 Commanders owner Josh Harris reiterated that the team would not return to its old name for "obvious reasons." In 1933, the football team that shared both the name and playing field with the Boston Braves baseball team moved to Fenway Park , already home to

520-685: A bill to renovate RFK Stadium unless the Commanders honor the old logo and the Wetzel family. However, some members of the Blackfeet Nation council wonder why little of the money generated by the team while using the logo has been shared with the tribe. Advocates of changing the team's name said that stereotypes of Native Americans had to be understood in the context of a history that includes conquest, forced relocation, and organized efforts by federal and state governments to eradicate native cultures, such as

624-507: A bounty for Indians, and that "redskin" refers to the bloody scalp of Native Americans. Although official documents do not use the word in this way, a historical association between the use of "redskin" and the paying of bounties can be made. In 1863, a Winona, Minnesota , newspaper, the Daily Republican , printed an announcement: "The state reward for dead Indians has been increased to $ 200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory . This sum

728-531: A derogatory fashion from the very beginning. In terms of linguistic theory , reappropriation can be seen as a specific case of a type of a semantic change , namely, of amelioration – a process through which a word's meaning becomes more positive over time. Robin Brontsema suggested that there are at least three mutually exclusive goals of reclamation: Value reversal refers to changing the meaning from pejorative to positive, while neutralization refers to changing

832-607: A group of 61 religious leaders in Washington, D.C., sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and team owner Dan Snyder stating their moral obligation to join the Change the Mascot movement due to the offensive and inappropriate nature of the name which causes pain whether or not that is intended. In June 2015, the United Church of Christ General Synod passed a resolution calling for

936-592: A letter to the Redskins' owner and the NFL Commissioner requesting that the name be changed since it is offensive to Native Americans. In response, Daniel Snyder told USA Today : "We'll never change the name. ... It's that simple. NEVER—you can use caps." Snyder addressed an open letter to fans that was published in The Washington Post on October 9, 2013; in which he stated that the most important meaning of

1040-483: A measure of respect and integrity undermined by images that flatten complex tribal, historical and personal experience into one-dimensional representations that tells us more about the depicters than about the depicted." The historical context for the emergence in the Americas of racial identities based upon skin color was the establishment of colonies which developed a plantation economy dependent upon slave labor. Prior to

1144-460: A more explicit statement that Goddard's article is poor scholarship, given that the conclusion of the origin and usage by Natives as "entirely benign" is divorced from the socio-historical realities of hostility and racism from which it emerged. Advocates of changing the name emphasize current meanings in dictionaries of American English, which include "usually offensive", "disparaging", "insulting", and "taboo". Such meanings are consistent with

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1248-445: A more permanent name. Team president Jason Wright announced on July 12, 2021, that the new name will not include any ties to Native Americans, including the name "Warriors"; research having shown that anything other than a clean break with the past is a slippery slope. While the team expects fans to continue to wear their jerseys with the former name and logo, Native American inspired headdresses or face paint will not be allowed in

1352-524: A non-profit organization closely allied with the NFL on civil rights issues, announced its support of a name change in 2015 after repeated attempts to discuss the issue with the team owner and representatives. An attorney for the Alliance, N. Jeremi Duru, an American University law professor, made a study of the controversy in which he concluded that Native Americans are justified in finding the name offensive. In 1992,

1456-599: A number of racial issues, from individual acts by players to widespread protests during the National Anthem, some commentators speculated why there had been no action to address the stereotyping of Native Americans, including the decision to have the Washington Redskins host a game on Thanksgiving. The issue is often discussed in the media in terms of offensiveness or political correctness , which reduces it to feelings and opinions, and prevents full understanding of

1560-430: A parallel between the evolution of "Negro" and "Redskin" from being in common use to being condescending and insulting. W. James Antle III, Rich Lowry , and Dennis Prager wrote that outrage over mascots is manufactured by white liberals, rather than being the authentic voice of Native Americans. From 2013 to 2014, national opinion polls consistently indicated that some majority of the general public opposed changing

1664-581: A pejorative, there remain LGBT individuals who are uncomfortable with having this term applied to them. The use of the racial slur nigger (specifically the - a variant ) by African Americans is often viewed as another act of reclamation, though much like the latter in the LGBT movement, there exists a vocal subset of people with Sub-Saharan African descent that object to the use of the word under any circumstances. Washington Redskins name controversy The Washington Redskins name controversy involved

1768-486: A red faux "Indian" costume, complete with feathered war bonnet and rubber tomahawk. Other fans dressed in similar costumes for games. In a report published by the Center for American Progress summarizing the research on "The Real Impact of Native Mascots and Team Names on American Indian and Alaska Native Youth", a case is made that the public debate misses the point, since individual opinions on either side do not matter given

1872-439: A respondent identified themselves as Native American, both polls asked, "The professional football team in Washington calls itself the Washington Redskins. As a Native American, do you find that name offensive or doesn’t it bother you?". In both polls, 90% responded that they were not bothered, 9% that they were offended, and 1% gave no response. These polls were widely cited by teams, fans, and mainstream media as evidence that there

1976-408: A single concept, leaping from word to word in a phenomenon known as the euphemism treadmill , for example as in the successive pejoration of the terms bog-house , privy-house , latrine , water closet , toilet , bathroom , and restroom (US English). When a term begins as pejorative and eventually is adopted in a non-pejorative sense, this is called melioration or amelioration . One example

2080-617: A soldier of the New Model Army . Tory (originally from the Middle Irish word for 'pursuer' tóraidhe ), Whig (from whiggamore ; see the Whiggamore Raid ) and Suffragette are other British examples. In the American colonies, British officers used Yankee , a term originated in reference to Dutch settlers, as a derogatory term against the colonists. British officers created

2184-539: A statement opposing the name of the Washington team, as well as other disparaging references to American Indians by other professional sports franchises. Later that year, members of the Navajo and Zuni Tribes and students from the Red Mesa Redskins High School attended a Redskins vs. Cardinals game as guests of the Washington team. In 2014, the Redskins released a two-minute video on YouTube entitled "Redskins

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2288-652: A stop to using images or mascots that could be demeaning to the Native American community. Although often assumed to be a debate of recent origins, local Washington, D.C. newspapers published news items on the controversy many times since at least 1971, all in response to Native American individuals or organizations asking for the name to be changed. National protests began in 1988, after the team's Super Bowl XXII victory, prompting numerous Native Americans to write letters to Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke ; others boycotted Redskins products and protested, but Cooke rejected

2392-577: A team name, Ross stated that "Native people shouldn't be forced to choose between living or racial discrimination. Those are false binaries." In February 2013 a symposium on the topic was held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, the Oneida Indian Nation of New York sponsored a series of radio ads in each city to coincide with games of

2496-593: A term that emphasizes an identity based upon skin color and a history that commodified Native American body parts. The meaning of the term "redskin" was addressed in two cases challenging the trademark registrations held by Pro-Football, Inc., the team's corporate entity. The challenge was based upon a provision of Federal trademark law (the Lanham Act ) which prohibited the registration of any mark that "may disparage persons, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute." In both cases,

2600-449: A word can be seen as acceptable when used by the members of the community that has reclaimed it (in-group usage), but its use by outside parties (out-group usage) can still be seen as derogatory and thus controversial. For example, Brontsema noted in 2003 in his discussion of the reclaimed terms that while "[the term nigger ] may be acceptable for African Americans to use it freely, it is off-limits to whites, whose usage of nigger cannot be

2704-530: A word denies it to those who would want to use it to oppress others and represents a form of moral victory for the group that reclaimed it. In 2017, the US Supreme Court , heard arguments for Matal v. Tam . In that case, the US Patent and Trademark Office refused a trademark registration for an Asian American band, The Slants , because it deemed the term disparaging. However, the court ruled unanimously in

2808-411: Is 57.69% Native American. Native American writer and attorney Gyasi Ross compares Native American use of variations of the word "redskin" with African-American use of variations of the word "nigger"; specifically Natives calling each other "skins" as analogous to "nigga". Ross argues that the use of terms by some members of minority communities does not mean that the same may be used by outsiders; this

2912-449: Is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism , hostility , or disregard. Sometimes, a term is regarded as pejorative in some social or ethnic groups but not in others or may be originally pejorative but later adopt a non-pejorative sense (or vice versa ) in some or all contexts. The word pejorative

3016-671: Is a Powerful Name" in which several Native Americans express their support for the team. Of the fourteen individuals, five are members of the Chippewa Cree tribe on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in Montana and are associated with the Team Redskins Rodeo club. Two are Mike Wetzel and Don Wetzel Jr. (Blackfoot), descendants of the logo designer, and the six others are members of diverse tribes and state that they are fans of

3120-491: Is derived from a Late Latin past participle stem of peiorare , meaning "to make worse", from peior "worse". In historical linguistics , the process of an inoffensive word becoming pejorative is a form of semantic drift known as pejoration . An example of pejoration is the shift in meaning of the word silly from meaning that a person was happy and fortunate to meaning that they are foolish and unsophisticated. The process of pejoration can repeat itself around

3224-441: Is generally recognized by white people with regard to black expressions, yet whites feel free to say how Natives should feel about "redskin". Ross also notes that there is no consensus among Natives regarding either opposition to the Washington team's use of the name, or the importance of the issue compared to more immediate concerns. However, in response to the argument that Native Americans ought to focus on social issues larger than

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3328-414: Is labeled as offensive, disparaging, or insulting. For several decades, the team's owners and management, NFL commissioners, and most fans sought to keep the Redskins name, claiming that it honored the achievements and virtues of Native Americans and that it was not intended in a negative manner. Then-team president Bruce Allen noted that three high schools with a Native American-majority student body used

3432-643: Is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth." A news story published by the Atchison Daily Champion in Atchison, Kansas, on October 9, 1885, tells of the settlers "hunt for redskins, with a view of obtaining their scalps" valued at $ 250. For sociologist C. Richard King the lack of direct evidence does not mean that contemporary Native people are wrong to draw an association between

3536-492: Is the shift in meaning of the word nice from meaning a person was foolish to meaning that a person is pleasant. When performed deliberately, it is described as reclamation or reappropriation . Examples of a word that has been reclaimed by portions of the community that it targets is queer , faggot and dyke which began being re-appropriated as a positive descriptor in the early 1990s by activist groups. However, due to its history and – in some regions – continued use as

3640-460: The Annenberg Institute , demonstrates continued, widespread and deep opposition to the Redskins changing our name... We respect the point of view of the small number of people who seek a name change, but it is important to recognize very few people agree with the case they are making." Bruce Allen addressed a letter dated May 23, 2014, to then Senate majority leader Harry Reid repeating

3744-562: The Boston Red Sox . Co-owner George Preston Marshall changed the name to the Redskins, more likely to avoid confusion while retaining the Native American imagery of the team than to honor coach William Henry "Lone Star" Dietz , whose identity as a Native American was debated. The logo for the NFL Braves was similar to the Redskins logo, a Native American head in profile with braids and trailing feathers. A redesigned logo introduced in 1972

3848-613: The Braves and the Redskins perpetuate negative stereotypes of Native American people, and demean their native traditions and rituals. The NCAI issued a new report in 2013 summarizing opposition to Indian mascots and team names generally, and the Washington Redskins in particular. In the trademark case, the TTAB placed significance on the NCAI opposition, estimating that the organization represented about 30% of

3952-524: The Central Conference of American Rabbis issued a resolution calling for the end of sports teams names that promote racism, in particular the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Redskins. The Anti-Defamation League was one of the organizations signing a letter to broadcasters urging them to avoid using the name. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism also advocated a name change. In 2013

4056-592: The NAACP and the ACLU as members, passed a unanimous resolution of the 85 representatives present that, while recognizing that a business has the First Amendment right to use any name that it chooses, others need not be complicit in the use of a pejorative and insulting name; and calling upon all Federal, state and local government entities "to end any preferential tax, zoning, or policy treatment that could be viewed as supporting

4160-545: The United States District Court for the District of Columbia reversed the TTAB's decision on the grounds of insufficient evidence of disparagement. Subsequent appeals were also rejected on the basis of laches , that the Native American petitioners had pursued their rights in an untimely manner. A second case was filed in 2013 by younger plaintiffs not affected by laches, led by Amanda Blackhorse . Once again,

4264-473: The boarding schools of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "Since the first Europeans made landfall in North America, native peoples have suffered under a weltering array of stereotypes, misconceptions and caricatures . Whether portrayed as noble savages , ignoble savages , teary-eyed environmentalists or, most recently, simply as casino-rich , native peoples find their efforts to be treated with

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4368-404: The colonial era , many Europeans identified themselves as Christians rather than white. "At the start of the eighteenth century, Indians and Europeans rarely mentioned the color of each other's skins. By midcentury, remarks about skin color and the categorization of peoples by simple color-coded labels (red, white, black) had become commonplace." Documents from the colonial period indicate that

4472-636: The 1990s. In 2020, the team responded to economic pressure in the wake of the George Floyd protests by retiring the name and logo. The team called itself the "Washington Football Team" before rebranding as the Commanders in 2022. "Redskin" is a slang term for Native Americans in the United States and First Nations in Canada . The term redskin underwent pejoration through the 19th to early 20th centuries and in contemporary dictionaries of American English it

4576-434: The 2013 season, each featuring a targeted message. A broader range of persons spoke in favor of change or open discussion, including local government leaders, members of Congress , and President Barack Obama . Statements in support of a name change by academic, civil rights and religious organizations were added to those that Native American groups have been making for decades. In 2017, when professional sports dealt with

4680-637: The First Amendment's Free Speech Clause. Contrary to the Government's contention, trademarks are private, not government speech." On June 29, 2017, both the Native American petitioners and the Justice Department withdrew from any further litigation now that the Supreme Court has rendered the legal issue moot. While team owner Daniel Snyder expresses the opinion that the court decision is a victory for

4784-687: The Fredericksburg area Patawomeck Tribe, stated on a radio talk show he would be offended if the team changed its name. In an article in The American Spectator , the chief of the Patawomeck Tribe, John Lightner, said that while he was not offended by the current name, he would support changing the team to the Washington Potomacs. On November 25, 2013, as part of the NFL's "Salute to Service" month and Native American Heritage month,

4888-420: The Native American population at the time the trademarks were granted, which met their criteria for a "substantial composite" of Native Americans finding the name disparaging. In its amicus brief filed in the case, the NCAI states that the combined enrollment of its member tribes in 2013 was 1.2 million individuals. Many tribal councils have passed resolutions or issued statements regarding their opposition to

4992-613: The Red Cloud Athletic Fund sent a letter to the Washington Post stating that "As an organization, Red Cloud Indian School has never—and will never—endorse the use of the name 'Redskins'. Like many Native American organizations across the country, members of our staff and extended community find the name offensive." In June 2013, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell defended the name by citing its origins, traditions and polls that support its popularity. In February 2018, following

5096-470: The Redskins were not in contact with a group of Native Americans who petitioned the NFL to force a name change and that Redskins head coach Ron Rivera also stated the team wanted to continue “honoring and supporting Native Americans and our Military.” The team initiated a review which resulted in the decision to retire its name and logo, playing as the Washington Football Team pending adoption of

5200-786: The Society of Indian Psychologists (1999), the American Counseling Association (2001), the American Psychological Association (2005), the American Sociological Association (2007). and the American Anthropological Association (2015). The executive board of the nation's leading organization of scholars of U.S. history approved a resolution in April 2015: "The Organization of American Historians hereby adds its voice to

5304-486: The Study of Sport in Society, wrote: "Could you imagine people mocking African Americans in black face at a game? Yet go to a game where there is a team with an Indian name and you will see fans with war paint on their faces. Is this not the equivalent to black face?" The unofficial mascot of the Redskins team was Zema Williams (aka Chief Zee ), an African American man who attended games for 38 years beginning in 1978 dressed in

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5408-596: The TTAB found Redskins to be disparaging under the Lanham Act. In December 2015, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the disparagement prohibition in the trademark law in a separate case ( Matal v. Tam ) involving a denial of trademark registration to the Asian-American band The Slants . On June 19, 2017, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Tam, stating "The disparagement clause violates

5512-469: The Washington Redskins name. But 49% overall said it was offensive, along with 67% of respondents who were heavily engaged in their native or tribal cultures, 60% of young people, and 52% of those with tribal affiliations. Three Virginia Indian leaders said in 2013 that they are not offended by the name Redskins but are more concerned about other issues such as the lack of Federal recognition for any Virginia tribe. Robert "Two Eagles" Green, retired chief of

5616-498: The Washington Redskins recognized four members of the Navajo Code Talkers Association briefly during a commercial break. One of them, Roy Hawthorne, has stated, "My opinion is that's a name that not only the team should keep, but that's a name that's American." This action was criticized by Amanda Blackhorse, also Navajo, who described it as a publicity stunt. In April 2014, Navajo Nation Council voted in favor of

5720-596: The Wisconsin Indian Education Association's Indian Mascot and Logo Task Force led a protest at Lambeau Field in Wisconsin. The Oneida Nation sponsored a video shown on the Jumbotron during the game expressing pride in being Native American as the antithesis of the message sent by the Redskins name and logo. FedEx owns the naming rights to the team's stadium, FedExField , through 2026, and had been

5824-474: The act of reappropriation "will feel powerful and therefore see his or her group label as less stigmatizing. Observers will infer that the group has power and will therefore see the label as less saturated in negativity". Although those terms are most often used in the context of language, this concept has also been used in relation to other cultural concepts, for example in the discussion of reappropriation of stereotypes , reappropriation of popular culture (e.g.,

5928-487: The announcement by MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred that the Cleveland Indians would remove their Chief Wahoo logo from the stadium and uniforms, Goodell stated that the Redskins name and logo would remain, primarily citing the 2016 Washington Post opinion poll. On their website the team stated that a 2014 annual NFL poll showing 71 percent support for the name, "along with the poll taken among Native Americans by

6032-509: The areas of human sexuality , gender roles , sexual orientation , etc. Among these are: In England, Cavalier was a derogatory nickname reappropriated as self-identification, in contrast to the term Roundhead which, despite being used by the Royalists for the supporters of the Parliamentary cause, remained a derisory word up to the point of it being a punishable offense if used to refer to

6136-448: The band's favor. Washington University in St. Louis conducted an extensive study on reappropriation based on the band name and found that reclaimed words could be an effective tool for neutralizing disparaging words: "Reappropriation does seem to work in the sense of defusing insults, rendering them less disparaging and harmful." There are many recent examples of linguistic reappropriation in

6240-447: The common name for the party. It eventually became a popular name, sufficiently so that consumer products like tea, candy, and even a freighter were branded with the name. Anarchism was mostly a derogatory term used by opponents of collectivist forms of socialism, until it was adopted by the anarchist movement in the late 1800s. During the 2016 United States presidential election , Hillary Clinton referred to some Trump supporters as

6344-652: The denial of language as a tool of oppression as abuse of power, has also been stressed by scholars such as Judith Butler and Michel Foucault , the latter who also referred to it as a " reverse discourse ". In terms of the wider sociopolitical empowerment process, reclamation process has also been credited with promoting social justice , and building group solidarity ; activists groups that engage in this process have been argued to be more likely to be seen as representative of their groups and see those groups as raising in power and status in their society. Scholars have argued that those who use such terms to describe themselves in

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6448-617: The early versions of the song Yankee Doodle , as a criticism of the uncultured colonists, but during the Revolution, as the colonists began to reappropriate the label yankee as a point of pride, they likewise reappropriated the song, altering verses, and turning it into a patriotic anthem. In the 1850s in the United States, a secretive political party was derisively dubbed the Know Nothing party, based on their penchant for saying "I know nothing" when asked for details by outsiders; this became

6552-502: The franchise as long as it retains its current team name". The resolution also commended the "current and former government officials, media outlets, and other entities that have encouraged the Washington Redskins franchise to change its team name or that have refused to be complicit in promoting the current team name". In response, the team released a brief statement reiterating their previous position, and quoting two individuals as being both Native American and Redskins fans who do not want

6656-430: The general use of the term was in response to meeting people who called themselves "white" and their slaves "black". The choice of red rather than other colors may have been due to cultural associations, rather than skin color. In the debate over the meaning of the word "redskin", team supporters frequently cite a paper by Ives Goddard , a Smithsonian Institution senior linguist and curator emeritus, who asserts that

6760-537: The growing demands by Native American organizations, our sister disciplines, and conscientious people of all ethnic backgrounds, to change the name and logo of the Washington 'Redskins'." In the 1940s the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) created a campaign to eliminate negative stereotyping of Native American people in the media. Over time, the campaign began to focus on Indian names and mascots in sports. The NCAI maintains that teams with mascots such as

6864-418: The historical, psychological and sociological context provided by academic research on the negative effects of the use of Native American names and images by sports teams. The effect of stereotyping on high or low expectations, confidence, and academic performance has been well-established. This effect is enhanced due to the invisibility of Native Americans in mainstream society and media, leaving stereotypes as

6968-470: The irony of NFL players making a statement opposing racial injustice by "taking a knee" for the National Anthem while one of the teams taking the field continues to use a racially offensive name and logo. Playing in Minnesota for the first time since 2014, hundreds of Native Americans protested against the team name outside of U.S. Bank Stadium during the game on October 24, 2019. On December 8, 2019, members of

7072-426: The likelihood of stereotypical thinking with regard to other minority groups in addition to the target of the stereotype, a "spreading effect". Native Americans opposed to mascots point to the oversimplification of their culture by fans "playing Indian" with no understanding of the deeper meaning of feathers, face paint, chants, and dancing. Richard Lapchick , director emeritus of Northeastern University's Center for

7176-422: The meaning from pejorative to neutral. Stigma exploitation, finally, refers to retaining the derogatory nature of such terms as a reminder that a given group has been subject to unfair treatment. Reclamation can be seen as both a psychological, individual process and as a sociological, society-wide process. In terms of a personal process, it has been discussed in the context of empowerment that comes from "disarming

7280-409: The measurable effects on the mental health of Native American young people exposed to such misrepresentations of their ethnic identity, and the often hostile or insulting behavior of non-natives that occur when teams with such names and mascots play. Clinical Psychologist Michael Friedman writes that the use of Native imagery, in particular the use of a dictionary defined slur, is a form of bullying ,

7384-535: The name and logo previously used by the Washington Commanders , a National Football League (NFL) franchise located in the Washington metropolitan area . In the 1960s, the team's longtime name—the Redskins —and the associated logo began to draw criticism from Native American groups and individuals. The topic, part of the larger Native American mascot controversy , began receiving widespread public attention in

7488-542: The name is the association that fans have with memories of their personal history with the team. Snyder also states that the name was chosen in 1933 to honor Native Americans in general and the coach and four players at that time who were Native American; and that in 1971 coach George Allen consulted with the Red Cloud Indian Fund on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation when designing the logo. In 2013,

7592-769: The name of the Washington Redskins, including the Cherokee and Comanche Nations of Oklahoma, the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes , the Oneida Indian Nation (New York), the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (North Dakota) and the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET). In April 2014, Navajo Nation Council voted in favor of a statement opposing

7696-657: The name of the Washington team, as well as other disparaging references to American Indians by other professional sports franchises. Other Native American groups advocating change include: the Native American Bar Association of DC, the National Caucus of Native American State Legislators, and the Society of American Indian Government Employees. At its 2013 annual conference, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR), which includes

7800-425: The name of the team: 79 percent (April 2013), 60 percent (June 2014), and 71 percent (September 2014). The latter poll found that 68 percent of respondents thought the name was not disrespectful of Native Americans, 19 percent said it showed "some" disrespect, and 9 percent said it was "a lot" disrespectful. Three polls of adult residents of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area found that most respondents supported

7904-492: The name to change. The LCCHR also issued a press release in 2014 applauding the decision to cancel the trademark protection for the team's name. The NAACP issued their own press release supporting the TTAB decision stating "The NAACP has called specifically for this name change since 1992, and will continue to stand with the Native Indian community until the derogatory moniker has been changed." The Fritz Pollard Alliance ,

8008-477: The name. Supporters also pointed to a national poll taken in 2004 by the Annenberg Public Policy Center , which found that a majority of Native Americans were not offended by the name. The use of public opinion polling methods to measure the opinions of a small, diverse population was criticized by scholars, in particular the use of self-identification to select the individuals surveyed. The name

8112-462: The negative impact of which is magnified by its being officially sanctioned. The majority of scholars argue that the use of any stereotype , whether positive or negative, is a hindrance to the advancement of the targeted group. The national organizations representing several academic disciplines, after reviewing the research done on the issue, have passed resolutions calling for the end of all Native American mascots and images in sports. These include

8216-807: The only corporate sponsor officially subject to boycotts by Native Americans: the Osage Nation , the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes, the largest tribe of Native Alaskan peoples. Following the February 2013 symposium "Racist Stereotypes and Cultural Appropriation in American Sports" at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, 10 members of Congress sent

8320-498: The plaintiffs prevailed at trial, establishing that the name Redskin was disparaging to Native Americans. However, both decisions were overturned due to legal issues other than disparagement. The first case, filed in 1992 by Suzan Shown Harjo and six other Native American leaders resulted in the cancellation of the federal registrations for the Redskins marks by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) in 1999. However, in 2005

8424-417: The position that the name was originated by Native Americans to refer to themselves, that the logo was also designed and approved by Native American leaders, and that the vast majority of both Native Americans and the public do not find the name offensive. Conservative columnists George Will and Pat Buchanan stated that opponents of the team name are being oversensitive, although Charles Krauthammer drew

8528-602: The possibility of change. There was a protest of about 2,000 people at the 1992 Super Bowl between the Redskins and the Buffalo Bills ; the American Indian Movement's (AIM) Vernon Bellecourt was one of the main organizers of the protest. From 2013 to 2019, picketing at stadiums occurred occasionally when the Redskins played, particularly in cities with a significant population of Native Americans, such as Dallas , Denver and Minneapolis . The latter protest

8632-445: The power of a dominant group to control one’s own and others’ views of oneself", and gaining control over the way one is described, and hence, one's self-image , self-control and self-understanding . Brontsema wrote that "At the heart of linguistic reclamation is the right of self-definition , of forging and naming one’s own existence." Other scholars have connected this concept to that of self-labelling . The empowerment process, and

8736-723: The primary basis for thinking about the abilities and traits associated with Natives, including the roles and opportunities Natives Americans envision for themselves. Furthermore, even when stereotypes are positive (e.g. "Native Americans are spiritual"), they may have a limiting, detrimental effect on individuals. Stereotyping may directly affect the academic performance and self-esteem of Native American youth, whose people face high rates of suicide, unemployment, and poverty. Euro-Americans exposed to mascots may be more likely to believe not only that such stereotypes are true, but that Native Americans have no identity beyond these stereotypes. Research indicates that exposure to any stereotypes increased

8840-449: The reappropriation of science fiction literature into elite, high literature ), or reappropriation of traditions. Reclaimed words often remain controversial for a time, due to their original pejorative nature. For some terms, even "reclaimed" usage by members of the community concerned is a subject of controversy. Often, not all members of a given community support the idea that a particular slur should be reclaimed at all. In other cases,

8944-408: The reclamation of terms have argued that such terms are irredeemable and are forever connected to their derogatory meaning, and their usage will continue to hurt those who remember its original intent and even reinforce the existing stigma. The supporters of reclamation argue, in turn, that many such words had non-derogatory meanings that are simply being restored and that in either case, reclaiming such

9048-450: The redesigned "W" primary logo that goes along with the new name. The design of the new "crest" combines elements of the team's history and its connection to the city of Washington. Amanda Blackhorse responded that the change is an empty gesture, the team's owner and management having made no substantial effort to acknowledge or repair the effects of decades of insults, nor advocate that other teams with offensive mascots also change. In

9152-591: The same, given its history and the general history of racial oppression and racial relations in the United States." A similar argument has been made in 2009 for words associated with the LGBT movement like queer or dyke . A related discourse occurred with regards to the Washington Redskins name controversy , with the Native American community divided on whether the term has been reclaimed or not. Those opposed to

9256-476: The stadium. In January 2022, the team announced that it would choose between Armada, Presidents, Brigade, Red Hogs, Commanders, RedWolves, Defenders and the then-current "Football Team". The new name, the Washington Commanders, was announced on February 2, 2022. In its press release, the team made no mention of the racial controversy, instead emphasizing the military symbolism of the graphic elements in

9360-458: The team and find nothing wrong with the name, or think it is positive. One of the individuals in the video is Mark One Wolf, who was reported as being born Mark E. Yancey in Washington, D.C., of African-American and Japanese descent. In July, 2020, the Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County, Virginia , which is the location of the corporate headquarters of the team, sent a letter to the owner urging

9464-448: The team logo works together with the name to reinforce an unrealistic stereotype: "It is not up to non-Indians to define an idealized image of what it is to a Native American." The "positive" stereotypes allow fans and supporters to honestly state that they are honoring Native Americans, but this is "forcing your idea of what it is to honour those people onto them and that, fundamentally, is disrespectful." Sociologist James V. Fenelon makes

9568-523: The team name, but 59 percent, 56 percent, and 53 percent also said that the word "redskin" is offensive to Native Americans in at least some contexts. Opinion polling was also part of the discussion about whether Native Americans found the term redskin insulting. Two national political polls, the first in 2004 by the National Annenberg Election Survey and another in 2016 by The Washington Post . were particularly influential. When

9672-402: The team to change its name on July 2, 2020. The same day, Nike removed Redskins apparel from its website. On July 3, the league and the franchise announced that it was "undergoing a thorough review of the team name." This was followed by additional retailers Amazon , Target and Walmart withdrawing Redskins merchandise from their stores and websites. On July 7, it was acknowledged that

9776-545: The team, the executive director of the NCAI asserts that the name remains a slur, and the decision that grants it First Amendment protection does not alter any of the arguments against its continued use. Supporters of the Redskins name note that three predominantly Native American high schools use the name for their sports teams, suggesting that it can be acceptable. However, in 2013, the principal of one of these, Red Mesa High School in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona , said that use of

9880-645: The term for his movement. Members of the Religious Society of Friends were termed Quakers as an epithet, but took up the term themselves. Similarly, the term Protestant was originally a derogatory term, and more recently the term pagan has been subject to a similar change in meaning. To a lesser extent, and more controversially among the groups referred to, many racial, ethnic, and class terms have been reappropriated: Words some feminist activists have argued should be reclaimed include: Pejorative A pejorative word, phrase, slur , or derogatory term

9984-409: The term was a direct translation of words used by Native Americans to refer to themselves and was benign in its original meaning. In an interview Goddard admits that it is impossible to verify if the native words were accurately translated. Darren R. Reid, a history lecturer at Coventry University, contends that Native American usage was generally attributed to them by European writers. Reid states that

10088-411: The usage found in books in the period between 1875 and 1930, which is after that studied by Goddard. John McWhorter , an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University , compares "redskin" becoming a slur to other racial terms, such as "Oriental", which acquired implied meanings associated with contempt. A controversial etymological claim is that the term emerged from the practice of paying

10192-476: The use of "red" as an identifier by Native Americans for themselves emerged in the context of Indian-European diplomacy in the southeastern region of North America, before later being adopted by Europeans and becoming a generic label for all Native Americans. Linguistic evidence indicates that, while some tribes may have used red to refer to themselves during the Pre-Columbian era based upon their origin stories,

10296-491: The word came to refer exclusively to them, and generally in a positive or neutral sense, even though the term "Jesuitical" is derived from the Society of Jesus and is used to mean things like: manipulative, conspiring, treacherous, capable of intellectually justifying anything by convoluted reasoning. Other examples can be found in the origins of Methodism ; early members were originally mocked for their "methodical" and rule-driven religious devotion, founder John Wesley embraced

10400-595: The word outside American Indian communities should be avoided because it could perpetuate "the legacy of negativity that the term has created". Teec Nos Pos, on the Navajo Nation , is 96.5% Native American. Wellpinit, Washington , a town within a reservation of the Spokane people , is 79.3% Native American. In 2014, Wellpinit High School voted to keep the Redskins name. The third school, Kingston High School in Kingston, Oklahoma

10504-607: Was no need to change the name of the Washington football team. In a commentary published soon after the 2004 poll, 15 Native American scholars collaborated on a critique that stated that there were so many flaws in the Annenberg study that rather than being a measure of Native American opinion, it was an expression of white privilege and colonialism. A 2019 poll by University of California, Berkeley surveyed 1,021 Native Americans, twice as many as in any previous polls. 38% of self-identified Native Americans said they were not bothered by

10608-478: Was opposed by the National Congress of American Indians , which said in 2013 that it represented 1.2 million people in its member tribes. In July 2020, amid the removal of many names and images as part of the George Floyd protests , a group of investors worth $ 620 billion wrote letters to major sponsors Nike , FedEx , and PepsiCo encouraging pressure on the Redskins to change their name. FedEx called on

10712-542: Was proposed by Walter Wetzel, a former Blackfoot tribal chairman and past president of the National Congress of American Indians, and was modeled after the likeness on the Buffalo nickel . Members of the Blackfoot tribe express a range of opinions, from support to indifference to strong opposition to the Redskins name based upon their personal experiences. In 2024, Republican Senator Steve Daines has stated his intention to block

10816-681: Was supported by several Minnesota politicians and was documented by two films: Dodging Bullets—Stories from Survivors of Historical Trauma and More Than A Word. Picketing resumed for the 2014 season in Glendale, Arizona, when the team played the Arizona Cardinals , and again the largest rally was in Minneapolis, where estimates of the number of protestors was between 3,500 and 5,000. At a protest in Philadelphia in 2017, Native Americans pointed out

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