Debate: Native American Mascots 8th
Side: No, leave it alone.

This debate about the football team name of the Washington Redskins has gone crazy. This debate involves sports, politics, and the media. Some people are saying the name "Redskins" is a racial slur, while others disagree. The Redskins logo in use today was first designed in 1971 in close consultation with Native American leaders. I feel that the football team name is not a offensive team name.Do people honestly believe that the Washington Redskins would purposely choose that specific mascot and logo? Well... I don't to be honest, I feel that the Native Americans should take this in as an honor. According to Daniel Snyder in his interview with ESPN, he states that every time the team does a touchdown the fans sing the National Redskins song which says "Hail to the Redskins! Hail Victory! Braves on the Warpath!" These are honoring words, not words of disrespect. People should lighten up a bit on this sports related issue and understand that words or names only have power if we give it to them. Some names for races do seem designed to be very negative in a hurtful way, but I don't think Redskins is one of them, it was simply a way of describing the appearance of their team. Ever catch your eye on logos of the Spartans or the Vikings? Well that's my first point on this argument. People never had any issues with their logos, but now they have issues with the Washington Redskin's logo that has been around since the 1930s and now all of a sudden 60 years later (1990s) they suddenly see it as a disrespect? According to Huffington Post, Matthew McConaughey stated this about the whole argument;"What interests me is how quickly it got pushed into the social consciousness. We were all fine with it since the 1930s, and all of a sudden we go, ‘No, gotta change it’? It seems like when the first levee breaks, everybody gets on board. I love the emblem. I dig it. It gives me a little fire and some oomph." Another reason I think they shouldn't change the team name is because people who aren't even a football fan or even heard about the Washington Redskins all of a sudden care about this after hearing about all of this conflict on the media. Now all of a sudden people are saying that they should change the name and what about the people who haven't even complained about it all these years? While if you were to catch a glimpse of the people who say they should change the name you can see that the name is offensive, but I think that the Washington Redskins has touched many hearts and keeps everyone fired up. It has touched the owner Daniel Snyder himself where in his interview he said that he has had a strong connection with with his father about this team until he died. And now he has had the greatest opportunity to own a team that he has loved and supported since he was a young child, but he has to change the name all of a sudden? Overall if Snyder were to change the name and logo it will all lead to them losing their fans and support, but if you think about it, it will entirely start a new argument. In closing, I believe that the Redskins should keep their name and tradition going on for the sake of their fans and if you can't be pleased with this, you can easily just ignore the team and the games they participate in.