The NFL should kick racist teams out of American football

Linguistics is a funny thing. For a variety of reasons, the phonetics and semantics of words change over time. The collective opinions and judgements of society, too, change. Given that the offensiveness of a word is subjective, not objective, the combined transient nature of linguistics and popular opinion almost guarantees that the "racially offensive" nature of word is guaranteed to change over time. In Pro's link, there is reference to the linguistic concept of "pejoration" [1], wherein a "neutral term acquires an unfavorable connotation or denotation. " As is to be expected, there is a reverse to this process called "amelioration. " [2] Some words that have undergone amelioration include: Yankee [3] Sooner [4] Queer Geek Queer and Geek are interesting. It is undoubted that the Queer and Geek groups have reclaimed the terms ("Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", "Geek Squad", etc. ) which were previously derogatory. Furthermore, in the case of Queer, its use as a synonym for strange predates its use as a derogatory term. It has gone from neutral, to derogatory, back to neutral, if not positive. It seems clear that the offensive nature of a word can change and is and subject to the collective whims of society. Why should we deny this process to Redskins? If Pro is to be consistent in his assertion, then he should add the New York Yankees to the list, and petition University of Oklahoma to reject "Sooners" as a nickname for their team. Do I suggest, then, that all of his suggestions are equally allowable? Certainly not. Most of them still retain their derogatory status as the primary and popular meaning of the word. However, some, such as San Francisco 4x2s or Coolies, I couldn't tell you what they are derogatory terms for. If you asked a random person what Redskins were, they would most likely refer to the football team, illustrating the fact that Redskins as a neutral tame for a sports team has supplanted its use as a derogatory term for a Native American which, itself, supplanted its use as a neutral term for a specific tribe of Native Americans. The fact of the matter is, insisting that words can only ever be used in accordance with a previous meaning, etymologically, would have you completely severed from society, as no one would understand you. For example, Pro has just suggested that the NFL offer the Washington Redskins buttocks [5]. A more serious accusation is that of racism. It think it is important to distinguish between the use of a term which, at some point in its centuries old existence was used in a derogatory manner, and the actual application of discrimination based upon race. Racism, in short is: "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race, based on the belief that one's own race is superior" [6]. In making such an accusation, Pro assumes a heavy burden of proof which has yet to be shown. In short, yes, the term has been used pejoratively. It has also been used neutrally, even before it assumed pejorative status. Given these conflicting states, how should we treat the term? The answer is we should treat the term as we do with any word: in accordance with its current, popular usage. As it is now, the use of the term to refer to a football team is, by far, the most popular use of the term. Association of Redskin with native Americans is, at best, archaic. Even the referenced use by Pro notes the term is "dated. " (1) . http://oxforddictionaries.com... (2) . http://pejorative.askdefine.com... (3) . http://www.etymonline.com... (4) . http://www.etymonline.com... (5) . http://www.etymonline.com... (6) . http://oxforddictionaries.com...