The Redskins Name is Offensive

To begin with, I wish to apologize for and explain my forfeit in the previous round. For the past several days, my every attempt to log into my account has been met with internal server errors. I contacted tech support for the site multiple times before the site's error was resolved. I've never before forfeited a round, so the fact that these technical difficulties led one is a great frustration for me. So, I apologize to my opponent, and ask that any judges consider the circumstances of the forfeit in casting their vote.On to the topic at hand. My opponent argues that the term "redskins" is not offensive because it "shows their fighting courage," and "their bravery and tenacity"There are two problems with this.First, we need to consider what it means for a word to be offensive. An offensive word is simply one that causes offense to another person - the dictionary definition is "causing someone to feel hurt, angry, or upset." [1] By this metric, the word under discussion is deeply offensive to many Native Americans. [2 - 4]. Whether the word is intended to offend is entirely beside the point - it has offended, and continues to offend, many people. Here's an analogy that omits any racial element: Let's say I call you a nerd, and it upsets you. Now, maybe I think being a nerd is a good thing - Math puzzles! RPGs! Science Fiction! - but maybe you have much more negative associations with the word, and so feel insulted. I've managed to offend you, even though I had no intention of doing so. So you ask me to lay off. What should my response be? I could say that you shouldn't be offended because the word isn't really an insult and insist on continuing to call you the name even after you ask me to stop - nerd nerd nerd nerd - and tell you to stop being such a wuss about it. But that would be the childish response. A much more mature, decent way to handle the situation would be to apologize for having caused offense and refraining from calling you by a word that caused you distress.The point is, I don't get to decide what you find offensive. All I can choose is how I respond to your offense - do I listen to you and treat you with respect, the way I'd like to be treated? Or do I ignore you and do whatever I want, no matter how it makes you feel? In the same way, you and I don't get to decide what many Native Americans - and others - find offensive. When I hear from so many voices that a term is offensive - when literally thousands of Native Americans from eleven tribes take to the streets in protest in my city when the Washington team comes to play [5] - I sit up and listen. I accept the distress of another human at face value. And so I refrain from using the hurtful word. Second, the idea that the word at hand shows "fighting courage," "bravery," or "tenacity" is completely false. There are plenty of other words associated with Native Americans that connote those traits - the Braves, the Warriors, the Chiefs. No one is asking those teams to change their names, because those terms do evoke positive, even heroic characteristics. This is another matter entirely.While the term may have had innocuous origins - as have many racial slurs - the term has taken on irredeemably negative connotations. In a time when the murder of Native Americans was rewarded with a government-supplied bounty, the term was used to refer to the scalps of the murdered men, women, and children used as proof of the kill. [6] This is not a modern "politically correct" invention, either. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary in 1898 defined the term as "A North American Indian; —often contemptuous." In 1961, Webster's Third edition noted that the word was "—usually taken to be offensive." [7]So let me use another analogy closer to the case at hand: What if I called a female coworker a "bitch," but insisted that I meant it as a complement? "It means you're tough! You don't take crap from anyone! Meredith Brooks called herself that, why are you getting so offended?" Regardless of how I meant it, my coworker could legitimately taken offense - and I could rightly be held to account for insulting and belittling someone based on their gender. The term is just too loaded with insult - an insult specifically directed at women - to use safely in polite society.I've not talked here about issues of racial appropriation, or erasure, or colonialism that are also important points of discussion in this conversation. But you don't have to study critical race theory to get the point on this one - you just have to have a little bit of empathy, and remember something you've known since you were four: it's not nice to call people names.[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com...[2] http://deadspin.com...[3] http://www.esquire.com...[4] http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com...[5] http://www.washingtonpost.com...[6] http://www.esquire.com...[7] http://www.motherjones.com...