Latest news with #Whatever's'
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump wants to ‘Make Indians Great Again' — by bringing back slurs to a school gymnasium near you
In 2014, a group of Native parents, including myself, launched the #NotYourMascot hashtag the night before the Super Bowl. Despite our minority status, representing barely 1.5% of the U.S. population, we were determined to find a way to be heard in the (relatively) new public square of social media. No, the Washington NFL team was not playing. But the Super Bowl was the most opportune moment to get our message out. We informed only our closest associates and a select few Twitter accounts with large followings about our plan — and treated our new hashtag like a state secret, afraid it would get swamped by an army of bots. We devised a list of ready-made tweets to educate the general public about the harm caused by Native mascotry to the most vulnerable population in America — Native Americans have the highest suicide, poverty, murder and rape rates in the country. The plan worked. 'Not Your Mascot' immediately trended — a powerful testament to the impact of collective action. It was probably the first American Indian hashtag to trend in the United States. Now, nearly 12 years later, the president of the United States is trying to undo our work. It's safe to say he did not read any of our tweets. On July 20, President Donald Trump posted on social media: 'The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team.' The leader of the free world then threatened to derail the team's return to the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, D.C., after three decades in Maryland. The Commanders' owners are negotiating a nearly $4 billion deal with the D.C. City Council to make the move in 2030. 'I may put a restriction on them,' the president wrote, 'that if they don't change the name back to the original 'Washington Redskins,' and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, 'Washington Commanders,' I won't make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington…Cleveland should do the same with the Cleveland Indians.' Trump may have written 'The Art of the Deal,' but if he had read our 140-character talking points, he would know that an Emory University study found that teams with American Indian mascots were off-putting to fans and the franchises were worth less than they would be without a race-based mascot. Suzan Harjo, a Cheyenne elder who began suing the franchise in 1992, challenging the former owner Dan Snyder's trademarking of the slur 'R*dskins,' noted in her response to Trump that the 'Harjo curse' (the team's poor performance began the year she started her lawsuit) was only lifted after the team changed its name. 'It's a good example of how long it takes to shake really bad karma.' Commanders managing partner Josh Harris had this to say in February: 'Now, in this building, the name Commanders means something. It's about players who love football, are great at football, hit hard, mentally tough, great teammates.' Even the Washington Post, which conducted a flawed survey in 2016 that showed support for the former name (I addressed this in an article in The Nation at the time), found that its most recent survey showed 62% of fans prefer the new name following the team's most successful season in decades. That, of course, should be that. But Trump's involvement in the mascot controversy goes beyond his recent social media posts or potential distractions from Jeffrey Epstein. In May, Trump's secretary of education, Linda McMahon, announced on a visit to Massapequa High School on Long Island, N.Y., that the state could lose federal funding if they do not allow Native mascots. In June, her department announced that its investigation into the New York Department of Education and the New York State Board of Regents' ban on 'mascots and logos that celebrate Native American history' was being handed over to the Department of Justice for enforcement. Under Trump, the department's civil rights office found the state ban discriminatory because mascotting other racial/ethnic groups, like 'Dutchmen' and the 'Huguenots,' is still allowed. After arguing with R*dskins trolls online in 2013-2014, I am familiar with this view. We'd often hear, 'What about the Vikings or 'Fighting Irish'?' Well, Vikings don't exist anymore, and going 'a Viking' was an activity, a job like being an oiler or packer. And it is not the sole way we know these groups. For so many Americans, American Indians are no more than the stereotypes demonstrated at games: Tomahawk chops and Pocahottie outfits. White Americans, even descendants of Vikings, the Irish, Dutch, and Huguenots, are allowed an individuality that cannot be diminished by obnoxious stereotypes promoted by the mascotry of their ancestors. 'The Trump administration will not stand idly by as state leaders attempt to eliminate the history and culture of Native American tribes,' McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, assured Massapequa High School students, parents and alumni. The school is refusing to comply with New York state law and eliminate its Native American mascot. After Trump's post on July 20, Kerry Wachter, the school board president of Massapequa, asked the president to sign an executive order allowing the school to retain its mascot. She claimed that banning mascots of Native people 'would erase this heritage, tear down this history and silence this legacy' in her Long Island town, which is 92.3% white, according to the U.S. Census. Massapequa says it would cost the school $1 million to change its mascot. One million invested in a mascot? If true, that certainly informs you about the types of resources being dubiously invested in the American educational system. Money that would be better spent on genuine education and assistance to poor reservation schools. Even to tribal colleges, many of which have had their budgets practically cut to zero by Trump. As we tweeted years ago, studies show that Native youth exposed to Native mascots have lower self-esteem. Not only that, but their ability to imagine themselves achieving their dreams decreases. And this is because, confronted with the dominant society's inability to see them as human and not a mascot, they retreat from the world and no longer have confidence in being a place where they can thrive. That's why, as Native parents, NotYourMascot sought to educate through tweets. That's why we chose Not Your Mascot, which was an improvement on Change the Name, an earlier messaging effort. We were taking our identity back for ourselves — and we were encouraging Americans of all backgrounds to engage with real Native people, cultures and lives, not mascots. Jacqueline Keeler is a Diné/Dakota writer living in Portland, Ore., and the author of 'Standing Rock, the Bundy Movement, and the American Story of Sacred Lands.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Donald Trump Is Demanding The Return Of Offensive Sports Team Names, And People Are Absolutely Losing It Over His "Batsh** Crazy" Truth Social Rant
Donald Trump has continuously tried to assert his power as president in the sports world, and most recently, he's taken to Truth Social to demand that two professional sports teams bring back their controversial team names, "immediately." Related: In a recent Truth Social post, Trump wrote: "The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past." "Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!" Related: Here's the full post: For context, the NFL team Washington Commanders (formerly known as the Washington Redskins) officially retired their 87-year-old team name on July 13, 2020, due to public pushback about the term "redskins" being offensive to the Indigenous community, who viewed it both as a "slur" and a "stereotype." Suzan Harjo, an advocate who fought for the name change and a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, spoke to NPR about why it was so important: "If it's permissible to say such things to us, such names, then it is permissible to do anything to us," she said. "I had lots of things in my personal life using that word. When I was a girl, you barely could make it through your young life without getting attacked by a bunch of white people, whether they were boys or girls or men or women. And they would always go to that word." Related: Similarly, the major league baseball team, the Cleveland Guardians (formerly known as the Cleveland Indians), officially changed its team name after the 2021 season. The team's owner, Paul Dolan, credited the "social unrest" in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, with making him want to change his organization's name. "We do feel like we're doing the right thing and that's what's driving this,'' Dolan said, according to ESPN. "I know some people disagree, but if anything, I've gotten more and more comfortable that we're headed in the right direction." Here's what people had to say about Trump's most recent rant: One person called it a "desperate attempt to distract," seemingly from all of the recent news surrounding Trump and the Epstein files. Related: "hes gonna convince his base that the natives want the old names back instead of telling u THEY are the reason the names were changed. telling natives they are 'loosing their heritage' over these names is laughable nobody talks about that shit anymore. nobody fucking cares but him." "The President of the United States going on about the name of a Football Team this Sunday morning is just another example of how batshit crazy this shitshow is." What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below. Also in In the News: Also in In the News: Also in In the News:
The Herald Scotland
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Native Americans slam Trump's push to return to Commanders' old name
"No Native American child should have to sit through a pep rally or in a stadium where their culture is being mocked," said Jacqueline De Leon, senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund. Trump threatened over the weekend to block a deal to build a stadium in Washington, D.C., if the Washington Commanders team refuses to revert to the name it had from 1937 when the team moved from Boston until 2022. "The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team," Trump posted on his Truth Social site. "I may put a restriction on them that if they don't change the name back to the original 'Washington Redskins,' and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, 'Washington Commanders.'" In a post the same day, Trump said Native Americans would welcome the change. "Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen," he wrote in a post that also encouraged the Cleveland Guardians to revert to a former name. "Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!" But that's not what USA TODAY found when reaching out to Native American activists. Native Americans are not mascots, said Savannah Romero, a member of the enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Nation, who urged city officials not to yield to the name change. "We are language keepers, land protectors, survivors of attempted genocide, and a part of sovereign nations," Romero, co-founder and deputy director of the BLIS (Black Liberation-Indigenous Sovereignty) Collective Collective, said in a statement. "To equate Native people with cartoonish mascots alongside animals is a gross and ongoing tactic of dehumanization." 'Disrespectful to the pain and suffering' Trump's move comes in the wake of efforts across the country to ban the use of Native American mascots and logos in schools, including in New York. The Native American Rights Fund supported efforts in New York to ban the use of such mascots. It recently released a video pushing back against the use of Native American mascots. In a June 17 announcement, the Department of Education called the ban "an unlawful attempt to ban mascots and logos that celebrate Native American history.'' De Leon said that challenge is part of the larger narrative by the Trump administration to muddy the waters and undermine civil rights protections. It's not racist to push back against racism, she said. "Native Americans are being used as tools for a distraction," De Leon said. "That's very disrespectful to the pain and suffering imposed on Native people by inaccurately depicting our culture." More: Why some Native American citizens worry about getting caught in ICE's net Beth Wright, a member of Pueblo of Laguna, said the United States has long tried to erase Native identity and culture, including through federal Indian boarding schools, banning Native religious and cultural practices and seizing control over Native lands. "Native people are still working to revitalize what the United States tried to erase,'' said Wright, a staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund. "Native mascots work directly against these efforts by perpetuating false historical narratives about Native people and false depictions of who Native people are today.'' 'It's a slur' In 2013, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 groups, approved a resolution calling for owners of the Washington team to change its name. The resolution called for the elimination of names and mascots "that promote negative stereotypes and connotations or that trivialize Native American cultures.'' De Leon, who had lived in the Washington, D.C., area for several years, said it hurt when she saw people wearing shirts with the old name. "I don't even like to say the word because it's a slur," she said.
Qatar Tribune
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Trump urges Commanders and Guardians teams to reverse name change
DPA Washington US President Donald Trump on Sunday called for Washington's football and Cleveland's baseball teams to revert to their former names, which had long been criticized as racist. 'The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past,' he wrote. 'Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense.' Trump went on to say he may 'put a restriction' on the Washington team if they did not revert. 'I won't make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington. The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone,' Trump wrote. The Redskins name was retired in 2020, in what was seen a major win for Native American activists who had long seen the team's name as an offensive slur against the indigenous people of the US. The team played as the Washington Football team for two seasons and rebranded as the Washington Commanders in 2022. Cleveland dropped the name Indians in 2020, before announcing the switch to Guardians in 2021. Many sports teams reconsidered their names amid a protest movement against racism, sparked by the 2020 death of George Floyd, a black man, in police custody.
Buzz Feed
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Buzz Feed
Trump Demands Return Of Offensive Sports Team Names
Donald Trump has continuously tried to assert his power as president in the sports world, and most recently, he's taken to Truth Social to demand that two professional sports team bring back their controversial team names, "immediately." In a recent Truth Social post, Trump wrote: "The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past." "Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!" Here's the full post: For context, the NFL team Washington Commanders (formerly known as the Washington Redskins) officially retired their 87-year-old team name on July 13, 2020, due to public pushback about the term "redskins" being offensive to the Indigenous community, who viewed it both as a "slur" and a "stereotype." Suzan Harjo, an advocate who fought for the name change and a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, spoke to NPR about why it was so important: "If it's permissible to say such things to us, such names, then it is permissible to do anything to us," she said. "I had lots of things in my personal life using that word. When I was a girl, you barely could make it through your young life without getting attacked by a bunch of white people, whether they were boys or girls or men or women. And they would always go to that word." Similarly, the major league baseball team, the Cleveland Guardians (formerly known as the Cleveland Indians), officially changed its team name after the 2021 season. The team's owner, Paul Dolan, credited the "social unrest" in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, with making him want to change his organization's name. "We do feel like we're doing the right thing and that's what's driving this,'' Dolan said, according to ESPN. "I know some people disagree, but if anything, I've gotten more and more comfortable that we're headed in the right direction." Here's what people had to say about Trump's most recent rant: One person called it a "desperate attempt to distract," seemingly from all of the recent news surrounding Trump and the Epstein files. "hes gonna convince his base that the natives want the old names back instead of telling u THEY are the reason the names were changed. telling natives they are 'loosing their heritage' over these names is laughable nobody talks about that shit anymore. nobody fucking cares but him." "The President of the United States going on about the name of a Football Team this Sunday morning is just another example of how batshit crazy this shitshow is." What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
