The started out as the Duluth (Minnesota) Eskimos in 1928 (already with the Native American oriented jokes). Obviously Duluth was a great place for a sports franchise, so they moved to Boston in 1932. Because their stadium was owned by the same guys who owned the Boston Braves baseball team, they changed their name to the Boston Braves (two team names, both involving Native Americans). The following year they got kicked out of the stadium or something, and off they wen to Fenway Park. In order to honor their new overlords, the Red Sox, they changed their team name from the Braves (the Red Sox's rivals) to the Red... something... oh yeah - the Redskins.
As always, you can count on the good city of Boston to come up with the most offensive names in sports. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Darkie toothpaste also originated in Boston.
The man behind the naming of the team was owner George Preston Marshall. He has been called by Professor Charles K. Ross (a history professor at Ohio State University) "the leading racist in the NFL" for the 24 years he was in the league. Aside from his obvious habit of appropriating Native American culture for his team, and naming his franchise after ethnic slurs, he also didn't exactly like black people very much. It would be one thing if he was just another white guy from that era (pre-Civil Rights, segregation era) going with the flow, but nope... he actually was a bit proactive in disenfranchising black people. Whereas the NFL had some black players in the league (not many, but some) prior to his arrival, that all changed within one year of Marshall becoming an owner. And so the NFL went 13 years with excluding black players from the league.
Even more telling is what happened next. The NFL started signing black players again in 1946, and drafting them in 1949. Guess which team was the biggest holdout? It took until 1962, when the government (in the form of Interior Secretary Stewart Udall) mandated that Marshall sign a black player, or lose the lease to RFK Stadium (which was government property) that Marshall decided to sign a black player, and integrate his team.
Professor Ross has argued that it was Marshall who was behind the color barrier in the NFL, and did so by overpowering owners like Art Modell and George Halas who were in support of signing black players.
"We'll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites."
-George Marshall
And this is the part of history that the team's name is honoring? Seriously?
I know the counterargument - that the name is a part of the team's history. Well, you know what? The team's history is a part of the team's history. In other words, it's just a name, and there is no reason to keep it around. The St. John's team did the right thing in the early 90's, and changed their offensive (to Native Americans) team name from the Redmen to the Red Storm. Incredibly, the franchise's history somehow survived! Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, Pearl Washington... all those guys, and the older guys... they all somehow survived. The Skins will, too.
The best suggestion on this topic came from a commenter on blog entry by The Internet Is For Zorn. He suggested changing the team name to the Pigskins. They can keep the colors, just get rid of the offensive logo. The nickname the Skins would still work fine. And, as Net4Zorn pointed out, current owner Daniel Synder can make a killing by changing his name, leading to new merchandise sales. Very rarely do you see business owners turned down a profit idea that is also good for society. This lack of change really is some mindboggling sh*t.
It's not like the DC area can't deal with sports teams that change name... the NBA franchise changed its name from the Bullets to the Wizards in the 90's. If the name Bullets was so offensive, what the hell about the Rdskns? And even the baseball franchise, when it resurfaced four years ago, it had a new name - no longer the Senators (a name that is as associated with sleazy corruption as "New York State Governor" now is), they are now the Nationals.
Mr. Synder can, and should, correct this historical mistake that has lingered for too long.
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The name change for The Washington DC pro football team is past due, unfortunately, I don't think it will happen until there is enough pressure from the public. I am willing to forego Redskin games until the name is changed.
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I agree. The NFL should be ashamed.