Redskins, Browns, Buffaloes – Insult? Or Flattery

Okay bear with me............I am back on the “label thing”, yep I can't help it with all of this brew ha going on concerning the Washington Redskins and whether or not it is an insult to Native Americans.

First, we ALL have labels that we assign to other races or skin colors, and in my raising and opinion it boils down to the “feeling” we put behind that name..............is it Hate?.........is it Honour?...........or is it just a label to define that person, place, or thing?

Yes I do remember the definition of a noun, thank you very much

Many years ago in a galaxy far, far away..............well face it, Higgins Texas, population 464 (at that time) is a world's difference from life in Amarillo! There was a group of Native Americans doing a walk, or ride.........I apologise that I cannot remember all the details, I am sure it was to raise awareness about Native Americans – especially since I wrote a story for the Golden Spread News about it. Anyway the group stopped for the night in Higgins, the town put them up in the school and feed them supper in the cafeteria.

During my interviewing several of the participants I became part of a conversation about the town of Shattuck and their mascot the Indians. Some of the participants had taken offence of Shattuck's mascot choice and the silhouette of an Indian on the water tower. Since I have never been one to set on the sidelines – and the interviews were basically over – I weighed in on the conversation. At the end several of the people there told me that they had never thought of the mascot choice in that light and it had made a difference.

Which brings me to my second point. Do you truly understand WHY/HOW a mascot is chosen? What the purpose of a mascot/label of a team is?

Mascots/Labels are chosen for two reasons - 

1. Most often the choice of a mascot is a reflection of a desired quality and a desire to emulate that particular animal or person. West Texas (now West Texas A&M University) did not pick Prairie Dogs as their mascot.........they picked the Buffalo! Now besides being a very large animal they can be pretty darn fierce if you cross their path! (yes I am a WT graduate, so sue me – I love my school!).  The Cleveland Browns honoured legendary Ohio coach Paul Brown by naming their team the Browns.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. The Atlanta Braves chose their name to emulate a warrior with a fighting spirit on the field.To symbolize or honour a local or regional trait or person...........such as the Pampa Harvesters to represent the agriculture influence in the area (particularly wheat).

Now what about Washington and those Redskins? Well I may have a lot of anger right now towards Washington but it is NOT towards a team that chose Redskins as their mascot!

In 1932 the team was called the Boston Braves and they actually played at Braves Field along with the Boston Braves BASEBALL team. The next year they moved to Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox) and changed their name to the Boston Redskins. When they left Boston in 1937 and moved to Washington they changed their name again, this time to the Washington Redskins.....and NO even though they shared the new field with the Washington Senators baseball team they didn't change their name to the Washington Senators. I am guessing that a combination of it being post Depression economy and a “we need to keep something the same” aided in this decision.

Now you can choose to decide that a label/name is an insult to someone or to yourself OR you can choose to consider it an honour or point of pride.

Some people take offense at being called ornery, and by the strictest definition it could be considered an insult -

Ornery – bad-tempered and combative........ OR .........stubborn

In MY family, it is a point of PRIDE! Yep, you know you have made it when Mama Joe says you're being ornery and giggles!

Now I go back to the first and say again..............it all depends on the “feeling” we put behind a label or name.............. kind of like – Excuse me............

There is excuse me? - “I didn't hear what you said”

And there is Excuse Me? - “I think I heard what you said but is so I don't think I liked it”

And there is EXCUSE ME? - “I HEARD what you said and oh hell no!”

EVERY generation takes words and phrases and assigns new meanings to them, don't assign a meaning to something unless you are sure that is EXACTLY what the originator meant to say.

I doubt very seriously if any team has adopted a mascot in the spirit of Degrading their "namesake" or to hold the namesake up for ridicule.  Rather I think it is an adoption of honor and a source of pride.