‘The Daily Show’ Rips Washington Team: Controversial Redskins Segment Airs [Video]
On Thursday night, The Daily Show aired the controversial segment that upset a few Washington Redskins fans. One woman was so upset that she even contacted the police after taking part in a piece about the NFL team’s divisive name.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, a group of fervent Redskins fans were given the opportunity to defend the Washington team’s name to The Daily Show reporter Jason Jones. It was easy for the fans to talk about their love of the name while sitting among fellow non-Native Americans, but they kind of freaked out when Jones surprised them by bringing in a group of Native Americans.
Washington fan Kelli O’Dell had the worst response out of the group.
“This goes way beyond mocking. Poking fun is one thing, but that’s not what happened… It was disingenuous. The Native Americans accused me of things that were so wrong. I felt in danger. I didn’t consent to that. I am going to be defamed.”
It’s funny that O’Dell said that she “felt in danger” while filming The Daily Show segment — it’s almost as though she thought the Native Americans were savages or something. O’Dell left the segment in tears.
During an interview with The Washington Post, Native American Bobby Wilson shared a brilliant response to O’Dell’s complaints about The Daily Show segment.
“It didn’t seem strange or unfair on our end, considering that each of us has always been confronting racism on this level.”
At least now O’Dell knows how horrible it is to feel like you’re being unfairly judged.
Because The Daily Show segment caused so much controversy before it even aired, Deadspin reports that Jon Stewart decided to preface the piece with his thoughts on the matter.
“Recently we sent our intrepid reporter Jason Jones out to the field to explore the phenomenon of a certain Washington, DC football team’s name. We learned later that some of the individuals who participated in the piece…they didn’t enjoy the experience. It is something that happens a lot less than you would think, but we take the complaint seriously.”
Judging from what Jon Stewart said right before playing the segment, he certainly didn’t feel very sympathetic toward the Washington fans’ plight (Kelli O’Dell’s crying was certainly no Trail of Tears).
“If we find out that someone in a piece was intentionally misled, or if their comments were intentionally misrepresented, we do not air that piece. We would not air that piece. So that being said, I hope you enjoy the following piece.”
One Native American argued against the name by pointing out that a “redskin” was “a proof of an Indian kill” back when Native Americans were being massacred by some of the ancestors of future Redskins fans. Shouldn’t that be enough of a reason to get rid of it?
The Washington fans responded with some pretty sad arguments against changing the name to something less offensive. One man believed that his poor theoretical kids wouldn’t be able to handle such a change.
“If the Redskins name is changed and I have children one day, what will I pass on to them?”
Then there was the guy in a headdress who tried to argue that he’s a Native American because he was born in the U.S.A.
During The Daily Show segment, fans of the Washington team all agreed that they’d still root for the team if it changed its name, so why not change it? What do you think of changing the name?
