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

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by Xanathol

Need is Redskin to anyone with an IQ over 3.

Your and idiot.

[Marcellus]

Ironically if they were called the KC Casinos it wouldn't be an issue.

[KC native]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

Its hilarious that you are so concerned about my 1/128....

Not concerned at all but you're the reerun that has stated more than once, "I'm Native American and I'm not offended so don't change the Redskins name since I'm Native American and I'm not offended."

[ThatRaceCardGuy]

Chiefs, Blackhawks, Seminoles, Indians (their logo is racist) are not racist. .redskins is / topic.

[Baby Lee]

I think we should ban je ne sais quois as it mascotizes the French as a people who can't explain what the **** they're talking about.

[Kiimo]

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.

This pisses me off so much. Oh no we musn't offend the sanctity of the tomahawk which is a sacred and revered instrument.

It's a ROCK. Tied to a STICK. With the purpose of BASHING IN SKULLS.


*I'm Blackfoot. They used longbows.

[Marcellus]

In the case of the Indians and Chiefs, if they would simply say they don't want to be associated with a franchise that hasn't won anything in 43 years then they may have an argument.

[KC native]

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

This pisses me off so much. Oh no we musn't offend the sanctity of the tomahawk which is a sacred and revered instrument.

It's a ROCK. Tied to a STICK. With the purpose of BASHING IN SKULLS.


*I'm Blackfoot. They used longbows.

Let me guess, you're 1/286 Blackfoot.

[Andoverer]

If there ever must be a name change for our team, may it be the Kansas City Perennial Superbowl Champs.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by Thatguy

Chiefs, Blackhawks, Seminoles, Indians (their logo is racist) are not racist. .redskins is / topic.

You're right, Blackhawks isn't.

During World War I, McLaughlin had served as a commander in the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Division of the U.S. Army. Members of his division called themselves Black Hawks in honor of the Sauk Indian chief who sided with the British in the War of 1812. Surely, the Major felt, it would be a fitting name for the newest entry into the National Hockey League.

http://blackhawks.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=46778

[Namor40]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

Once you give in to the offended crowd, they find more to be offended by. Who knew?*











*Well, other than everyone who's ever studied history

Bullies come in all shapes and sizes, giving in to them doesn't make them less of a bully. This lady is just another leech trying to cash in on by making life miserable for other people.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by Namor40

Bullies come in all shapes and sizes, giving in to them doesn't make them less of a bully. This **** is just another leech trying to cash in on by making life miserable for other people.

FYP

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by Andoverer

If there ever must be a name change for our team, may it be the Kansas City Pussified ****face Chumps

FYP

[KCUnited]

Can we offer them half of Raytown to back off?

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Rausch

There's a huge difference between using a Native American name and using a racist Native American term...

Both "Chiefs" and "Redskins" are currently considered offensive, according to this native American woman. There's no difference at all.

Originally Posted by soopamanluva

How do you call someone a name they don't want to be called out of respect? Strictly referring to "redskins".

I assume that's rhetorical, and intended to stir up emotions in opposition to the facts. You can't possibly be stupid enough to ask that question any other way.

Originally Posted by Basileus777

The name "chiefs" is completely neutral, it need not even be specific to Indians. It's not a slur like Redskins. And you'd have a hard time trying to make the case that the team's logo or use of the word arrowhead is offensive.

The name "Chiefs" is no more neutral than "Redskins" or "History".

Originally Posted by blaise

Nothing will come of it because there will basically be no public support. Almost no one will agree that Chiefs is offensive or a slur. I bet this has more to do with her wanting to keep attention on herself after the Redskins change their name. She likes being a hero for a cause.

Bitching about "Redskins" had basically no public support. They kept at it. It's what they do. It works. Just ask the homosexuals, the radical feminists, and some dead progressive politicians like (Ted Kennedy).

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.

Take it up with the native Americans. They get to decide whether or not it's offensive, not you.





When will you people finally wake up and realize that this is just a symptom, and not the problem? When everything is political, nothing is off-limits. When you appease the freaks, they start demanding more. It's in their nature, and you enablers are a huge part of the problem.