Is the Redskins name offensive?

In the early 1990’s, it was en vogue for Indian groups and other concerned people to rally against the many Indian themed sports nick names across the country. Some of the smaller Colleges and Universities ultimately gave into this pressure, and changed their names to other thing not related to the American Indian culture. For the most part, the pro sports teams stood pat, and for the most part, the courts stayed away from team name lawsuits. That is all of them except the Washington Redkskins.

To be really truthful the Redskins is the most offensive team name left out there. I mean the Braves, Seminoles, and others are paying homage to the culture. Redskins is a derogatory term used to disparage people of the American Indian culture. As a White American, I wouldn’t want a team named Honkies, and I am sure the African American culture would not want a team named after a racial slur.

In 1992 a group of American Indians field suit to have the Redskins name, copyright, and patent disallowed by US law. While that fight has been raging ever since, the Indian group now wants the US Supreme Court to make a final ruling. They are upset of a 1999 ruling from a lower court that went in favor of the Redskins and the NFL on a legal technicality.

Of course at this point it has probably been far too long to reasonably make the Redskins change their name, but crazier things have happened. Maybe a nice compromise would be to develop a new Redskins logo. That team had used a helmet with a simple arrow on it, a helmet that looked a lot like the FSU helmets, which seemed to be less offensive.