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

[temper11]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I don't really care.

I'd hope the Chiefs could keep the logo somehow, but losing the name the Chiefs and the name Arrowhead Stadium would only be symbolic losses that I'm sure I'd get over in a month or so.

Anybody shitting their pants that the Chiefs, a billion dollar corporation, has to change mascots, needs to relax and realize it's a first world problem.

How about video games that some find offensive? Or offensive music, or books. Will you be ok with the govt ending that as well? Plenty here have said many offensive things to me, should the govt silence them also? Every time our freedoms are so easily brushed aside, we become less of a "first world".

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by temper11

How about video games that some find offensive? Or offensive music, or books. Will you be ok with the govt ending that as well? Plenty here have said many offensive things to me, should the govt silence them also? Every time our freedoms are so easily brushed aside, we become less of a "first world".

I wasn't commenting on that.

I was saying that I'm not going to give two shits if/when the Chiefs have to change their mascot.

It makes no difference to me.

Edit: That last sentence of yours is downright stupid, though.

[mikey23545]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I wasn't commenting on that.

I was saying that I'm not going to give two shits if/when the Chiefs have to change their mascot.

It makes no difference to me.

Edit: That last sentence of yours is downright stupid, though.

Your capitulation to the State is already well documented.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I don't really care.

I'd hope the Chiefs could keep the logo somehow, but losing the name the Chiefs and the name Arrowhead Stadium would only be symbolic losses that I'm sure I'd get over in a month or so.

Anybody shitting their pants that the Chiefs, a billion dollar corporation, has to change mascots, needs to relax and realize it's a first world problem.

When I read this post, I envision the groundskeepers from 'Major League' saying, "they're STILL shitty"!

[Just Passin' By]

Red Mesa students, parents and alumni stamped the bleachers, clutching signs that read “Fear the Spear” and “Redskin Nation.”

88 percent of students and 71 percent of faculty members surveyed by the school this month favored keeping the Redskins name and mascot. On another question, 60 percent of students disagreed that Redskins is a slur, 7 percent said the word is offensive and one-third said they weren’t sure.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...9a2_story.html

[Bowser]

I guess the question becomes how much money does the 7 percent that find the word offensive donate to various political entities with the ability to enact and enforce change? Because that's the only way that Washington loses its Redskin name - money. And lots of it.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by ForeverChiefs58

George Preston Marshall, owner and founder of the franchise, sought to rename the Boston Braves after leaving the stadium they shared with the baseball team of the same name. The name was changed to ‘Redskins’ to honor then-coach Lone Star Dietz, an American Sioux.



It doesn't matter the good intentions, typical liberal PC bullshit

JFC, that is not true. There is a newspaper article published at the time of the name change. The article asks the owner why he changed the name. Forget the reason but it wasn't to honor the Coach. I'm sure google will pull it up.

[displacedinMN]

from today's Skins-vikes game

http://www.startribune.com/local/281223101.html

Redskins owner shamed during protest of name ahead of Vikings game

sure he was


There was also a picture of a sign that said "Viking is a job, Redskin is an insult."
What kind of person wants a job as a viking?

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

"What kind of person wants a job as a viking?

Sail the seas in cool looking ships.
Visit faraway lands.
Rape and pillage.


Sounds like a decent living.

[Kman34]

The Chiefs drum was blessed by an Indian Chief today. Then Priest Holmes proceeded to beat the shit out of it. The Indians that helped with the blessing did the chop afterwards. Didn't look like we have any problems with Indian heritage today...

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Kman34

The Chiefs drum was blessed by an Indian Chief today. Then Priest Holmes proceeded to beat the shit out of it. The Indians that helped with the blessing did the chop afterwards. Didn't look like we have any problems with Indian heritage today...

Bunch of Uncle Tatankas!!

[Stinger]

Originally Posted by Kman34

The Chiefs drum was blessed by an Indian Chief today. Then Priest Holmes proceeded to beat the shit out of it. The Indians that helped with the blessing did the chop afterwards. Didn't look like we have any problems with Indian heritage today...

I thought there was a protester today before the start of the game. He was holding a sign before the players came out and KC Rat was doing his thing. Guy ran around the field for a couple minutes tried to juke out a cop and stumbled. Cuffed him took out and players came out right after he was gone.

[Kman34]

Originally Posted by Stinger

I thought there was a protester today before the start of the game. He was holding a sign before the players came out and KC Rat was doing his thing. Guy ran around the field for a couple minutes tried to juke out a cop and stumbled. Cuffed him took out and players came out right after he was gone.

I seen that too but couldn't make out what his sign said...Could have been about Indians or high beer prices who knows???

[Direckshun]

Chiefs getting waaaaaaaaaaaaay out in front of the potential problem.

https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwo...defiant-157849

Kansas City Chiefs Partner With Local Tribes; Redskins Still Defiant
Rodney Harwood
11/14/14

The Kansas City Chiefs have done something no other franchise in the National Football League has done: Give local tribes a level playing field.

While the Washington NFL franchise has shown defiance and thrown out token trinkets like the treaty makers of old, the Chiefs have solicited Native input through a partnership with the American Indian Center of the Great Plains. This outlet gives local Native leaders an opportunity to explain why traditions, culture and ceremony are important to Native people across the country.

“What we’re doing is starting a new chapter in our relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs,” American Indian Center of the Great Plains president John Learned told ICTMN. “This is our community. I live here and the things they value as an organization, we as Native people value. Honor, community, tradition are the same values we as Native people have always talked about. We can’t change history, but we can move forward. And the Chiefs have been very receptive to our input.”

Chiefs president Mark Donovan agreed. “We are grateful for John (Learned), Gena (Timberman) and the entire American Indian Community Working Group’s unwavering support in helping us understand ways in which we could honor, educate and create awareness of American Indian culture for our fans,” Donovan told ICTMN. “We are very pleased with how the events throughout the week and the celebrations at the game transpired. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the working group.”

The two groups meet on a regular basis.

Donovan and Bill Chapin, the vice president of business operations, have been active by asking tribal representatives questions to get a better sense of their concerns before they become national issues. The Native leaders include Richard Lanoue (Lakota), Ernie Stevens III (Oneida tribe of Wisconsin), Gary Johnson (Choctaw Nation), Elwood Otto (Otoe/Missouria tribe of Oklahoma) and Gena Timberman (Choctaw Nation). Cheyenne/Arapaho spiritual leader Moses Starr, Jr, from Concho, Oklahoma is also active.

Learned said they have to pick their battles. Getting 75,000 people to stop the chop and the chant is one they left for another day. But they have talked at great length about the headdresses worn by non-Indians. Once the elders informed Chiefs’ executives of the history – how each feather has meaning, representing an act of bravery or honor – it became clear that to see a fan waving a plastic tomahawk and wearing a headdress is insulting.

“Bill [Chapin] and Mark Donovan both said, ‘We’re more sensitive now to this stuff than we have been in the past because of what we’re learning from your group,’ ” said Learned, Cheyenne/Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma. “They told us they don’t have control over what CBS or FOX airs [during broadcasts], but the can make suggestions. They can control preseason broadcasts and they have told their camera people do not show any of those guys in headdresses and makeup because all they’re really doing is trying to get on TV.”

The educational process has also carried over to the drum used by the Chiefs at home games. It’s not a sacred drum or something special with a spirit of its own. It’s a prop used to stir up the crowd’s emotions. The Chiefs brought it back when they renovated Arrowhead Stadium four years ago. They’ve had celebrities like George Brett and Tom Watson bang the drum to get fans going on game day. Again, through discussions with the tribal leaders the Chiefs were able to take another step in the right direction on November 2 during the Native American Heritage ceremony.

Representatives from the Native community offered tobacco and blessed the drum. Starr Jr., who blessed the four directions inside the stadium, delivered the drum mallet to Chiefs Hall of Famer Priest Holmes, who had the honor of beating the drum for the game against New York Jets.

The Native American Heritage ceremony also included the We-Ta-Se, American Legion 410 Honor Color Guard, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, which presented the colors, and Tabitha Fair, an Oklahoma native of the Chickasaw Nation, along with the Chickasaw Nation Youth Choir, sang the National Anthem. As a sign of respect, they sang an honor song in recognition of Kansas City Mayor H. Roe Bartle, the namesake of the Chiefs.

Another idea being discussed is to honor members of the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame During the November 30 Sunday Night Game against the Denver Broncos. “We’ll probably do another Play 60 with one of the reservations out here,” Learned said. “We had 50 Native kids at the one we with Haskell earlier this month. I have talked with Tyler Bray (Potawatomi- Citizen Band) about working with our organization. I think it’s going to work out.”

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Chiefs getting waaaaaaaaaaaaay out in front of the potential problem.

Yeah, they are handling this the right way. But lets be honest, its a lot easier to defend the word Chiefs from the PC rabble than the word Redskins.

The white players dressing up as Indians in the early 90's and the white guy in war paint on a horse in the 70's was really the only time periods and time that the Chiefs even possibly crossed the line. They bring back Warpaint the horse and put a good looking blonde on the horse, Brilliant.