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2017 started with the New York Giants beating the Washington Redskins in the final game of the regular season for each team. Although I couldn’t watch the game, I have a new Amazon Echo Dot and asked Alexa the score.
My kids (five and six) were with me when Alexa told us, “Last night the Giants beat the Redskins 19-10.” Typically, this would be a chance for me to teach them about football, or reinforce our Giants fandom, or discuss our new technological toy. Instead, it veered in a different direction.
“The red skins? Eww… that’s gross! Why are they called that?” The six year old led the charge with the five year old repeating, and adding, “Is it because of blood?”
So I find myself in a spot where, rather than discuss football or technology, my mind is reeling with thoughts of America’s racial divide and fear of screwing up this teaching moment.
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Our city and its schools are diverse. My kids are regularly around such a mix of races, ethnicities, and cultures that they aren’t phased by anything different from themselves. They understand at a base level that everyone is different in some way. There are boys and girls, various languages, hair colors and types and lengths, different skin tones, multiple sizes and shapes.
They also know they’ve never seen anybody with red skin.
So I find myself in a spot where, rather than discuss football or technology, my mind is reeling with thoughts of America’s racial divide and fear of screwing up this teaching moment.
Use of “redskin” in reference to indigenous Americans dates at least to the 1760s, and may have been a relatively innocuous term initially. But over the next century, the term became a pejorative, used in reference to scalping or killing Native Americans. Finally, in 1933, George P. Marshall renamed his football team the “Redskins.” By then, use of “redskin” as a pejorative was well-established, but so were a lot of offensive names in wide usage.
Women only got the right to vote 13 years earlier. Less than a decade before, Native Americans were granted citizenship, but still prevented from voting in various states. Our country has become far more civil and inclusive in the intervening eight decades.
My kids know nothing of this history. I could explain it to them, but they wouldn’t comprehend that people—adults—were mean to each other solely because of their differences. I certainly couldn’t explain to them why adults today insist upon using an offensive name while saying they don’t mean it offensively. I could almost hear the older one asking, “Why don’t they just not use it?”
I punted. “It’s an old-fashioned name and it’ll probably change in the next few years.” They’re six and five. In time, I’ll educate them on race in America. For now, I’ll take solace in knowing that they don’t understand the country’s repulsive history of treatment toward its native inhabitants, or how relegating this history to one offensive word in a team name is not only wrong, but is disingenuous to our collective assertion that all are created equal.
For now, the incident serves as a stark example of how children, untainted by societal pressures, see an issue so clearly, where adults, clinging desperately to “tradition,” continue to use a term that dismisses an entire group of people by making them a mascot.
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Photo: Getty Images
Wow! Talk about a missed opportunity! We may as well go back to being cartoon characters!
The High school on the North side of Quincy,MA is known as the Red Raiders. They have an American Indian logo. And the Washington Redskins have a Indian logo. To the 5 and 6 year olds her my reply is “Bite Me”.
I’m thinking Rottweiler here..
Be sure to explain that it was the FRENCH who “invented” the practice of “SCALPING!” The GIANTS aren’t really giants, the RAIDERS are not really pirates, etc. etc. SLAVERY is not an “AMERICAN” tradition. AFRICANS sold their own to the Europeans. The first SLAVE OWNER in the UNITED STATES was ANTHONY JOHNSON, a former SLAVE himself. Recount the founding of LIBERIA, at cost to the AMERICAN TAXPAYER, to this day, and what a failure as a SOCIAL EXPERIMENT it is/was/and shall remain. I have read many comments on this site, and I have concluded that much of this is LIBERAL… Read more »
You sure are angry. I’m sorry if things didn’t turn out the way you’d hoped. But really, if you don’t understand that being a white man in this society carries privileges, you need to be re-educated. I appreciate you reading the piece, but your response is nonsense and sounds like it’s motivated by fear and hatred. Again, sorry if things didn’t turn out like you thought they should, but this country is moving forward with, without, and probably despite, you.
Dad, I learned something today from this article. I didn’t know that the name came from scalping. I always thought it was the yellowish/tan undertones in the skin, not unlike my husband’s skin tones. I can hear the song “Why is the red man red” from Peter Pan in my head right now. When my son was your son’s age, I don’t know that a question like this ever came up. I know that once I heard the boys in his class wondering why “they” (who I don’t know) called some of them “black” because none of them was black,… Read more »
It really is tough. The older one is on the cusp of learning about the darker moments of this country’s history. His mother and I are active parents, and will, when appropriate, address any questions he has and give him an understanding of history. As he gets older, I’ll pull fewer and fewer punches. It’s important that they learn the truth, but you nailed it by saying it needs to be in an age-appropriate way.
Frankly, I expect better from this site. Tell your kids the truth instead of hiding behind your privilege to avoid what for you is a minor discomfort. The sooner they learn how awful people can be, the sooner they can learn to be better people.
Robyn, it’s not my discomfort, it’s my five year old’s. He’s FIVE. Surely you understand that some things require a little more nuance than a young child can comprehend, no? It would be a very different conversation with a twelve year old, for example. But I think you missed the point–this highlights that even children understand the name is problematic, even children without a basic understanding of race and racism. This is not a “how to talk to your kids about race” piece, it’s aimed at adults who may never have considered the name to be an issue. Hopefully those… Read more »
I manage to have these conversations with my four year old. So, no, they don’t require more nuance. Frances Danger gave you some really great examples for you to use. If we raise our children to always be aware of racism and injustice, they won’t have to be taught to check their privilege later. If you really want to make the world a better place, teach your children what’s wrong with it so they can grow up to make it better. Also, way to go on telling two different women that we just don’t understand. You’re winning at this ally… Read more »
You didn’t punt. You allowed for the continued erasure of the Native experience by the majority. Take out a dictionary and look up redskin. You’ll see it defined as a racial slur. There’s no prettifying it. You may know the history but don’t hide behind protecting your children when what yhis really is is your not wanting to speak an uncomfortable truth.
Frances, I am curious if you have ever been asked a delicate question by a tiny child that you loved with all of your heart? One that you wanted to keep them free of the ugliness of our world for as long as you could? If you have, I would like to know how you handled it. I would also like to know how YOU would answer “Mommy/Daddy/Tia/Tio/etc. why did they call them redskins?” I’m truly curious. I desire to learn from people of all different opinions. Someday, my not a twinkle in anyone’s eye grandchild may ask me a… Read more »
Mary, I absolutely have been asked delicate questions by my own daughter, as well as by my own niece and nephew. I can understand and appreciate wanting to keep them safe and innocent. This does not nean that you coddle them, however. I am not asking the author to read his children Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee as a bed time story. What I am asking for is that he be a bit more honest with himself about why he made this choice. This wasn’t a punt. This was someone who didn’t even suit up for a game of… Read more »
Thanks Mary, and thanks for reading. It’s always difficult to address things like racism, sexism, etc. with children; this election cycle has required a lot of delicate and fancy footwork!
Thank you for reading! But I think you may have missed the point. The article exists to call attention to the issue. The point is that the name is so obviously wrong that children inherently know it’s not appropriate. If you really interpreted this as “continued erasure of the Native experience,” you may want to re-read and see if you missed something. Also, you don’t speak every uncomfortable truth to children. I refuse to tell my 5 year old that terrorists flew planes into buildings intent on murdering innocent people for a ridiculous religious belief. I don’t think this means… Read more »
I think your kids asked what a redskin was because they already know what a giant was. They weren’t so highly attuned that they knew it was wrong. If they were they would have asked “why are they using a bad word like redskin?” Of course I don’t suggest you show your children at this age the recorded live coverage of 9/11 but what stops you from saying “Some men did a very bad thing that hurt a lot of people. We caught the bad man that made it happen.” if they ask? You can be both truthful and delicate.… Read more »
You can’t claim to speak for all Native Americans. I’m sorry you feel I dropped the ball. Again, this isn’t a “learn how to answer kid questions” article, it’s geared toward adults who never considered the issue or have, but blew it off and ignored it as no big deal, or have but bought into the idea that it’s really a name designed to “honor” Native Americans. I think we agree in principle that the name is offensive and should be changed. You would have talked to the kids differently. Fine. That completely misses the point of this.
I didn’t claim to speak for all Native Americans. I said I am Native American and that I am giving my thoughts on your piece through that lens. I’m not giving myself carte blanche to be the spokesperson for my race. That would be silly. We do agree in principle about the name. It is incredibly offensive. It’s a name both my daughter and myself had been called. It is hurtful and cruel. Make no mistake. I appreciate your writing about this and wanting to bring it to light so other adults can be prepared for questions like this. I… Read more »
https://youtu.be/qGzoqvFvykQ