But it’s not just the Redskin fans that are so obnoxious. The fans of the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Chiefs are just as offensive. Their fans have no clue that applying paint to the face of an American Indian is always done in a religious ceremony and eagle feathers are given to individuals, usually in a religious ceremony, for the great deeds they have accomplished. Native Americans earn the feathers they wear in their hair. How would American Catholics react if the New Orleans Saints used the Pope as a mascot and paraded people dressed as nuns and priests around the football field?
If the Atlanta Braves were named the Harlem Braves would their fans feel free to paint their faces black? Instead of their hideous tomahawk chop would they resort to waving spears in the air?
The national mainstream media doesn’t have a clue either. With the Redskin management in the process of changing their name MSNBC and CNN had a great opportunity to educate the rest of America by inviting one or two knowledgeable Native Americans on their shows to explain the things I am explaining here. Instead talking heads like MSNBC’s Chris Hayes had an African American football player on this show who once portrayed an Indian in a movie. Duh?
Some of our local sports editors like Vic Quick and Station Manager like Jack Caudill of KEVN get it. Quick stopped using the name Redskin a year ago. One of South Dakota’s great sports announcers Bob Laskowski dropped it years ago after taking the time to have lunch with me an actually listen and learn. Bob is no longer with us, but I will always remember him as a good man who saw a wrong and tried to correct it.
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