http://www.necn.com/06/24/14/Broadside-Controversy-over-Redskins-loca/landing_broadside.html?blockID=868391&feedID=11122
It's been a long time since there was a firestorm over a
decision of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but it happened last
week when it gave new life to a controversy involving the Washington
Redskins.
The department canceled the Redskins' trademark
registration last Wednesday, and although it doesn't force the NFL to
change the team's name, it does add fuel to the ongoing controversy over
what opponents to the name see as a racial slur toward Native
Americans.
However, the controversy isn't limited to the national stage, since other local high school teams have similiar names.
Claudia
Fox Tree of the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness says
she doesn't see how anyone can argue in favor of names such as the
Redskins in 2014.
"All of those images are stereotypes of Native
Americans and they keep us in the past, which is the biggest problem
that we face as Native people," she said.
Fox Tree argues that Native Americans aren't seen as anything contemporary or professional.
"Those
images of Native Americans are missing and the biggest problem is the
absence of having those positive images. If there was a range, maybe you
wouldn't notice it, but given that there's an absence of anything else,
this is the wrong image to project for Native people," she said.
COMPILED & REVIEWED BY CLAUDIA A. FOX TREE, M.Ed (Arawak). Here are resources I recommend in courses I teach about Native Americans - like book lists, websites, video clips, music/songs, curriculum ideas, and other thoughts thrown in for explanation… Mostly, this blog is a place to present truths and perspectives about the Indigenous People of the Western Hemisphere (with particular focus on the Caribbean) not easily found in other places.
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