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

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

It's not up to me what's respectful or not.

From your posts on this subject that's a damn good thing because you appear to not have any ability to look at things logically.

This really isn't complicated but you are sure trying to make it appear complicated.

I don't need anyone to tell me whether Arrowhead Stadium or calling the Chiefs the Chiefs is offensive. Its obvious to anyone with half a brain that it isn't and that this is simply a money grab.

There are tons of things with Indian related names, and they aren't offensive. Just because this is a football team, that in no way shape or form makes it offensive.

[Fish]

No way in hell with the tomahawk chop ever go away, regardless of what the Chiefs org does.

[ClevelandBronco]

Change it to the Washington Palefaces (there's no glory left in red skin if it's as thin as all this), alter the colors and get wealthy all over again selling new merchandise to the mob.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by Fish

No way in hell with the tomahawk chop ever go away, regardless of what the Chiefs org does.

An abomination to amputees everywhere

[Crying Ramtard]

Originally Posted by Old Dog

in this case the noob speaks the truth

you're welcome.

I didn't need to type that but I'm trying to up my post count to post videos n stuff

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

There are tons of things with Indian related names, and they aren't offensive.

[Halfcan]

Originally Posted by SPATCH

We've got a lot of things going for us. Our name can't be easily construed as a racial slur and our logos don't feature any caricatures of Native Americans.

The team has a chance to cut out the last little bit of team-sanctioned activity that evokes strong Native American imagery (and lampoons it). We have a chance to be seen as a team that is sensitive to Native American concerns and does not attempt to disparage Natives in any way. We should take that chance.

This is simple, cover-your-ass stuff that good organizations practice everyday.

Be the Warriors, not the Redskins.

dumb

[BigRichard]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

Change it to the Washington Palefaces (there's no glory left in red skin if it's as thin as all this), alter the colors and get wealthy all over again selling new merchandise to the mob.

I thought Dan Snyder should do a big FU to them and change it to something mocking them. Your suggestion would be a good one or possibly just change the logo to being a potato with a feather sticking out of it.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Ironic isn't it.

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

I thought Dan Snyder should do a big FU to them and change it to something mocking them. Your suggestion would be a good one or possibly just change the logo to being a potato with a feather sticking out of it.

The Red Potato Skins. I like it. Co-op marketing with TGIFriday perhaps.

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

That shit is the smallpox blanket that keeps on giving.

[ptlyon]

This is the best time for Clark to show his initiative as a team owner.

Embrace history and the future at the same time.

May I introduce 'The Kansas City Football bundle of stickss'

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

That shit is the smallpox blanket that keeps on giving.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by ptlyon

An abomination to amputees everywhere

And tired and lame. Bob Dole cringes every time it starts.

[Crying Ramtard]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Ironic isn't it.

whats more ironic..if that's how the word is used ?...is the Halbritter guy heads a cigarette making company with an indian logo called 'Smokin Joes'


dude isn't even a quarter indian