Washington Redskins - Racist & Time for Change?

The Washington Redskins are one of the NFL's most heralded and followed teams with 3 Super Bowl titles plus 2 in the pre-Super Bowl era.

According to Forbes magazine, they are the third most valuable franchise in the NFL, behind the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys, their greatest rivals.

In fact, the annual Cowboys v Redskins rivalry, home and away, is often considered the greatest rivalry in the NFL ever - think Liverpool v Manchester United or Arsenal v Tottenham.

Yet, controversy has risen this season - whether it's born out of a lack of material to cover in the NFL by the media or not - over the name of the team historically based in the nation's capital.

The Redskins name has been around since 1933 when the Boston Braves changed their name to the Boston Redskins and then moved to Washington, D.C. in 1937. So the name, now labelled racist, outdated and an insult to native Americans, has got 80 years of history and heritage behind it.

A Redskin is a racial descriptor for Native Americans whose origins have been disputed although Merriam-Webster has defined it as "usually offensive" and other respected dictionaries have gone along similar tones.

The term derives from the use of "red" as a color metaphor for race following European colonization of the Western Hemisphere, although initial explorers and later Anglo-Americans termed Native Americans light-skinned, brown, tawny, or russet.

Think of it as calling an African American "Black", French people, Frogs, Germans "Krauts", even all people from the Orient "Asian".

It is slightly offensive but not quite as derogatory as calling black Americans Negroes today, or Pakistanis "Pakis".

But that's not what many who have been against the Redskins name think and there's a call for owner Dan Snyder - a Jew himself - to change the Redskins name as they claim it is outdated, racist and harks back to an era when native Americans were murdered and raped, and had their lands taken over during the expansion into the Midwest.

RGIII - starting quarterback - that wouldn't have been possible 50 years ago but the Redskins are a different outfit today

Indeed, Congress has petitioned for the Redskins name to be changed - the same Congress who should really be focusing on the debt ceiling rather than such a ridiculous PC thing that has really ruined America of late.

Thankfully - and to Bob Costas' disdain - the Redskins ownership and NFL have politely said no and even claim polls that show that the Redskins name is very popular and is indeed a tribute to America's original inhabitants.

I certainly hope the Redskins name stays as it would be quite difficult to imagine Washington's NFL team as being anything other than the Redskins.

Should Kansas City Chiefs change its name because it's outdated and racist?

And if we were gonna change the Redskins name, what about changing the name of the Chicago Blackhawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians and Golden State Warriors?

I think it's time America got its priorities right, focused itself on the real issues at hand - universal healthcare, a widening gap between rich and poor - rather than some name that wasn't racist 80 years ago but now is considered taboo.

It's not just America. Tottenham fans face prosecution in the UK now for using the Yid term despite using it for so long - and the opposing fans don't really use it much!!!