According to the Washington Post:
Nine in 10 Native Americans say they are not offended by the Washington Redskins name, according to a new Washington Post poll that shows how few ordinary Indians have been persuaded by a national movement to change the football team’s moniker.
The survey of 504 people across every state and the District reveals that the minds of Native Americans have remained unchanged since a 2004 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found the exact same result. Responses to The Post’s questions about the issue were broadly consistent regardless of age, income, education, political party or proximity to reservations.
Among the Native Americans reached over a five-month period ending in April, more than 7 in 10 said they did not feel the word “Redskin” was disrespectful to Indians. An even higher number — 8 in 10 — said they would not be offended if a non-native called them that name.
The previous poll taken in 2004 produced the same result.
Despite the fact that there are majority-Native American schools with the Redskin moniker (e.g. Red Mesa High School and Wellpinit High School), an extremely vocal minority of Native Americans and their willing dupes on the Left insist that it’s a racist term and are actively seeking to force their views down everybody’s throat. As Wellpinit graduate, James Seyler said, “We shouldn’t change it because everybody in politics wants us to change the name. We’ve been here for thousands for years. It’s people who weren’t raised here who are bothered by it.”
Where did the term Redskins come from?
Ives Goddard, emeritus senior linguist at the Smithsonian Institution’s Department of Anthropology, in 2005 wrote a research paper on the term.
He says the assertion [that “Redskin” refers to the bloodied scalp that bounty hunters used to show proof of a kill] became popularized when American Indian rights activist Suzan Harjo said it on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” in 1992.
“There wasn’t anything to support the connection,” says Goddard. “But that’s what everybody now thinks.”
In fact, he says, it was Indians who first came up with the term when the whites showed up in this continent: “You guys are white, we are red.” It became derogatory in later usage, he says.
And, adds Goddard, what’s acceptable “is based on today’s language,” and the term is clearly offensive to many.
Many? Apparently, not the vast majority of Native Americans. How about this list?
Brooklyn Italians
Boston Celtics
New York Knicks
Minnesota Vikings
Montreal Canadians (referring to the French-speaking residents of colonial North America)
Alfred University Saxons
Alma College Scots
Bethany Swedes
Idaho Vandals
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns
Michigan State Spartans
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Verona Hillbillies
And on and on. Why aren’t the Irish up in arms about Notre Dame? Why aren’t Germans twisted over the Vandal mascot? The obvious answer is that mascots are intended to represent strength, prowess, ferocity or a culture. No insult is intended by a mascot, which is probably why the majority of Native Americans see no harm in it. Folks up in arms over the Redskins need to find a better cause to gripe about. Game over. Move on.
