Woman behind the Redskins name change says the Chiefs should be on guard

[BigRedChief]

The fight took a monumental shift at a protest nine years at Arrowhead Stadium and it’s about to come full circle. No matter what you think of the issue, it will soon be ubiquitous in and around Kansas City’s greatest obsession other than barbecue.

The Chiefs are aware of it, and are preparing accordingly.


Back in 2005, a group calling itself Not In Our Honor protested before the Chiefs played Washington. The protesters were predominately American Indians, united in their anger over what they perceived as offensive stereotypes passed off as nicknames for sports teams. An older woman, Suzan Harjo, one of the leaders of the protest, met a younger woman named Amanda Blackhorse, then a student at Kansas.

They bonded over their passion for the issue, and that’s how the case known as Blackhorse et al v. Pro-Football Inc. came to be. Last week the plaintiffs prevailed when the United States Patent and Trademark Office canceled the trademarks of the Washington Redskins.


The case is under appeal, but you should know that the woman who took on and (at least for the moment) defeated the corporate entity that owns Washington’s NFL team would like to see the same type of case brought against the Chiefs.
As she says, the spark that started back in 2005 at Arrowhead has created a fire that will probably soon return.


“What happens there, it’s just insane the things they allow to go on,” Blackhorse says of the Chiefs and Arrowhead. “They are definitely in the group (of offensive teams), for sure.”


For now, the Chiefs are publicly silent on this. But they know the fight is likely coming, and they hope a few things work in their favor — most notably that it’s tough to compare their nickname with the one in Washington that is a dictionary-defined racial slur. Blackhorse’s group has also protested baseball’s Cleveland Indians, and that team has greatly scaled back its use of the cartoonish Chief Wahoo logo.


The Chiefs have similarly scaled back some of their more obvious plays on Indian stereotypes, and they hope they have some other advantages when the fight comes. The team is named after H. Roe Bartle, the mayor who was key in Kansas City landing the team from Dallas in 1962. Bartle’s nickname was “The Chief.”


The team stopped using a man dressed in traditional headgear as a mascot during pregame festivities many years ago. In the early 1990s, many of the Chiefs’ defensive players posed for a poster that today both looks absolutely ridiculous and would never be recreated.
The team does, however, play the tomahawk chop during games and welcomes fans in headgear and other stereotypes of Native American dress.


Those are some of the parts of the game day experience that Blackhorse calls “insane,” and why she expects a fight that’s gaining momentum and support nationally to come to Kansas City.


She knows that the vast majority of Chiefs fans will oppose her, but she also knows that the vast majority of fans in Washington opposed her, as well.


She says there is “no middle ground with this issue,” that once an ethnic group is used as a nickname for a sports team, the people in that ethic group lose control of their identity and humanity.


“I don’t want people to think I’m going around pointing fingers, like, ‘You’re a racist, you’re a racist, you’re a racist,’ ” she says. “That’s not the point. The point is we’re offended. You can love Native Americans to death. You can have admiration, love what we do, how we are, whatever, and still (hijack) our culture without understanding it that way.”


Wherever you stand on this issue, there is no denying that Blackhorse’s side is making progress. Teams are sensitive to and aware of perpetuating stereotypes so much more than in the past, in response to public sentiment.


The issue is further complicated by context, that this is a fight centered around Indians, who make up about 1 percent of the nation’s population and who, in Blackhorse’s words, “are invisible sometimes to people.”
That makes getting the message out a bit more difficult. A group of people that feels offended by widespread stereotyping isn’t big enough to get critical mass on its own.


That’s why Blackhorse says the movement needs the help of non-Indians, and part of why she’s so encouraged by developments in Congress and with the trademark case.


There is a lot of momentum here, which can be dangerous for teams like the Chiefs that will likely soon find themselves directly in the fight.
“I’m not sure there’s anything the (Chiefs) can do at this point other than look for another name,” Blackhorse says. “They could be the team that says, ‘You know what? We understand the issue and we don’t want to be Dan Snyder and fight this in court forever. We want to do the right thing and move forward and avoid this entire battle.’ I’m sure fans will be upset, but still, that’s doing the right thing.


“If they want to be sensitive to Native American people, that’s the thing to do.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt...#storylink=cpy

Early 90's

[Andoverer]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I'm not saying you do all of those or have to do all of those things. I'm just spitballing about proactive things the Chiefs could get out in front of.

The tomahawk chop one would be really easy, and it is probably the only complaint we've seen from Harjo and Blackfoot that is in true team control. At the end of the day, you're only losing a dated, unoriginal practice. The chop, like the Wave, was maybe cool in 1990. Now? Meh.

I hear ya on that one. My point is just saying don't be tempted to give in to the PC Police because it will never just end right there.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

This one. They really should stop that. It's stupid.

If fans want to do something on their own, I'd let it be. But the team doesn't need to lead that dumb chant.

Bob Dole has been refusing to do it since day one.

They should probably look in to how the officials signal a first down. That's pretty offensive on occasion.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by loochy

African Americans

How far back does the African go?

I always thought that if you had just a speck of African in you, then that made you black.

[Coochie liquor]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I casino reason the Chiefs should have to change their name.

Exactly!!

[Otter]

lulz

Screw this bitch

[L.A. Chieffan]

That's a pretty dope poster actually

[IamBATMAN]

I still own that poster

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Fish

We'll call it a Redout.

Thanks for finishing off that one correctly.

[Xanathol]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

How the **** is Chiefs even in the same discussion as Redskins? Chief is in no way, shape or form a racial slur.

JFC, this country is just ****ed and waiting for the next Hitler to kick our pussified asses.

Neither is Redskin to anyone with an IQ over 3.

[hometeam]

what's the indian word for ****?

[Mr. Laz]

They better hope all the names aren't change because then they will become irrelevant.

[dj56dt58]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Proactive steps the Chiefs could take (and maybe should take) to head off the lawsuit:

1) Stop playing the tomahawk chop song, stop selling tomahawks in the stadium, and play over it any time the fans start a tomahawk chop on their own.

2) Issue a new policy making it against stadium policy to wear mock Native American garb in the stadium or on the grounds/parking lot. And then enforce it (force people to change out of that garb before entering the stadium).

3) Name something in the stadium after the "Chief" mayor the team is supposedly named after, and make that a part of the pre-game in some way. Play that factor up.

For names like the Chiefs (Or the Braves, or the Indians) that are really difficult to sell as a racial slur, I doubt this picks up the same steam, but why not address some of the complaints proactively?

It's certainly a better look than the one Daniel Snyder is currently sporting.

Yes let's take away freedom. I have a better idea. Let's line these ****s up and put one in the back of their head

[ForeverChiefs58]

I wish people that represented 1% of anything would shut the **** up.

[Rasputin]

And the Home Of the....



CHUEEEEEEEEFS

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by dj56dt58

Yes let's take away freedom. I have a better idea. Let's line these ****s up and put one in the back of their head

Not saying they should. Saying those are things they COULD do if they're looking at being proactive in response to threat of a lawsuit.

University of Illinois has done something similar with Chief Illiniwek apparel at their games.