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Should the Redskins change their name?
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StevenHW



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PostPosted: 10/03/14 6:16 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

rykhala wrote:
Well, they are not Indian names at all. They are no different than any of the hundreds of racial slurs. I am sure that we can all agree that it would be awful to have teams called the Spics, Wetbacks, Degos, Kikes, Tar Babies, Lesbos, Chinks, Gooks, Coons, or Spooks. Why is it so hard to understand how inflammatory Redskins team name is?


There actually is a high school in Pekin, Illinois, where their school team's nickname is actually called The Chinks. The school administration wanted to officially change the name to The Dragons. But many of the students and alumni still refer to it by their racist nickname.

http://gaijinass.com/2010/07/24/pekin-chinks-windsor-swastikas-atlanta-black-crackers/


TonyL222



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PostPosted: 10/04/14 8:41 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Sooooo, how we can we stop state and local governments from using images of the Confederate flag in an official capacity? It's a highly offensive symbol to me.


pilight



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 10:43 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Redskins cite other protected products in trademark appeal

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/take-yo-panties-off-defense-redskins-cite-other-protected-products-in-trademark-appeal/2015/11/03/d6501692-81b8-11e5-8ba6-cec48b74b2a7_story.html

Quote:
"By way of example only, the following marks are registered today: Take Yo Panties Off clothing; Dangerous Negro shirts . . . Midget-Man condoms and inflatable sex dolls, the Redskins lawyers wrote in their opening brief filed Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond. The lawyers later added a footnote with 31 more trademark registrations, many of them unprintable in The Washington Post. On the list: Party With Sluts . . . Redneck Army apparel . . . Booty Call sex aids . . . Dumb Blonde hair products.



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GlennMacGrady



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 1:49 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

pilight wrote:
Redskins cite other protected products in trademark appeal

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/take-yo-panties-off-defense-redskins-cite-other-protected-products-in-trademark-appeal/2015/11/03/d6501692-81b8-11e5-8ba6-cec48b74b2a7_story.html

Quote:
"By way of example only, the following marks are registered today: Take Yo Panties Off clothing; Dangerous Negro shirts . . . Midget-Man condoms and inflatable sex dolls, the Redskins lawyers wrote in their opening brief filed Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond. The lawyers later added a footnote with 31 more trademark registrations, many of them unprintable in The Washington Post. On the list: Party With Sluts . . . Redneck Army apparel . . . Booty Call sex aids . . . Dumb Blonde hair products.


This is a colorful and persuasive argument tactic by the Redskins. The District Court judge cancelled the "Redskins" trademark partially on the grounds that registered trademarks are a form of "government speech" -- because they are listed in an official goverment database in the Patent & Trademark Office -- and the goverment can cancel a trademark if the general public would think that the government is "endorsing" some disparaging message transmitted by the trademark. In this case, I suppose, the government is arguing that the general public will think the federal government is disparaging native American Indians if the word "Redskins" remains in the PTO database.

The Redskins make reductio ad absurdum and pretext arguments against this alleged governmental endorsement fear. In their brief they point to all sorts of other disparaging trademarks about which the federal government has never voiced any "endorsement" concerns:

". . . how will the government explain registrations like MARIJUANA FOR SALE, CAPITALISM SUCKS DONKEY BALLS, LICENSED SERIAL KILLER, YID DISH, DIRTY WHOOORE CLOTHING COMPANY, and MURDER 4 HIRE?"

"Other startling examples that would reflect government endorsement under the decision below include: SHANK THE B!T@H board game; CRACKA AZZ SKATEBOARDS; ANAL FANTASY COLLECTION, KLITORIS, and OMAZING SEX TOYS sex toys; HOT OCTOPUSS anti-premature ejaculation creams; OL GEEZER wines; EDIBLE CROTCHLESS GUMMY PANTIES lingerie; WTF WORK? online forum; MILF WEED bags; GRINGO STYLE SALSA; MAKE YOUR OWN DILDO; GRINGO BBQ; CONTEMPORARY NEGRO, FDUP, WHITE TRASH REBEL, I LOVE VAGINA, WHITE GIRL WITH A BOOTY, PARTY WITH SLUTS, CRIPPLED OLD BIKER BASTARDS, DICK BALLS, and REDNECK ARMY apparel; OH! MY NAPPY HAIR shampoos; REFORMED WHORES and WHORES FROM HELL musical bands; LAUGHING MY VAGINA OFF entertainment; NAPPY ROOTS records; BOOTY CALL sex aids; BOYS ARE STUPID, THROW ROCKS AT THEM wallets; and DUMB BLONDE hair products. Word limits prevent us from listing more."

And the law is supposed to be dull.
pilight



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 2:13 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

GlennMacGrady wrote:
This is a colorful and persuasive argument tactic by the Redskins.


It makes for a good legal argument. It remains to be seen if claiming your mark to be no more or less crude than Twatty Girl is a good business decision.



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ArtBest23



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 2:48 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

pilight wrote:
GlennMacGrady wrote:
This is a colorful and persuasive argument tactic by the Redskins.


It makes for a good legal argument. It remains to be seen if claiming your mark to be no more or less crude than Twatty Girl is a good business decision.


It's not even a good or persuasive legal argument.

That a trademark went through without objection doesn't mean that any of those would stand up if someone actually bothered to file an objection to them.

But hey, if you're their lawyer, you do the best with the hand you're dealt.


justintyme



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 3:56 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

ArtBest23 wrote:
pilight wrote:
GlennMacGrady wrote:
This is a colorful and persuasive argument tactic by the Redskins.


It makes for a good legal argument. It remains to be seen if claiming your mark to be no more or less crude than Twatty Girl is a good business decision.


It's not even a good or persuasive legal argument.

That a trademark went through without objection doesn't mean that any of those would stand up if someone actually bothered to file an objection to them.

But hey, if you're their lawyer, you do the best with the hand you're dealt.

Yeah, that was my take on this too.

"But they're getting away with it, so why can't we?" tends to be a poor argument, at least in cases that I have researched in the past. Whether or not this name is entitled to trademark protection or not has to live or die on its own merits. All the government has to say to the others is that they would likely revoke those trademarks also if someone asked them to.

SCOTUS just ruled this past June that the Government was allowed to refuse certain designs on personalized plates (specifically, the Confederate Battle Flag) because it would make it seem like they were endorsing a specific type of speech. It does not seem a stretch to apply the same reasoning here in this case.



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GlennMacGrady



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 4:36 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

ArtBest23 wrote:
pilight wrote:
GlennMacGrady wrote:
This is a colorful and persuasive argument tactic by the Redskins.


It makes for a good legal argument. It remains to be seen if claiming your mark to be no more or less crude than Twatty Girl is a good business decision.


It's not even a good or persuasive legal argument.

That a trademark went through without objection doesn't mean that any of those would stand up if someone actually bothered to file an objection to them.

But hey, if you're their lawyer, you do the best with the hand you're dealt.


The argument is not focused on whether any of these names are disparaging. That's a separate factual issue.

The Team's primary attack on the cancellation decision is that the disparagement provision in the Lanham (trademark) Act violates the First Amendment. One way the District Court avoided this conclusion was to hold that the disparagement clause satisfies the (intermediate scrutiny) constitutional standard of "directly advancing a substantial governmental interest". By pointing out that the government has registered all sorts of crude and disparaging names, the Team is providing strong factual argumentation that refusing to register disparaging trademarks has never been historically treated as a substantial governmental interest. (It may be a substantial interest to the disparaged party, who is free to challenge the registration.)

Thus, through this argument, the Team is asking the Circuit Court to reverse the holding about the applicability of the First Amendment. If that holding is reversed, the First Amendment pops back as a potentially a priori protector of the word "redskins". And if that happens, the entire factual issue about disparagement becomes moot and irrelevant.

Hence, the argument is a good one about a crucial constitutional issue.

By the way, the factual issue in the case is stipulated to be whether a "substantial composite" of Native American Indians believed "redskins" to be a disparaging word in 1967. And since this case is on a motion for summary judgment, all factual evidence was supposed to be viewed in the light most favorable to the Team.

It's also apparently factually unchallenged that "of the over three million trademarks registered since 1870, no registration has ever been retroactively cancelled for being disparaging. The Redskins are the first and only."
mercfan3



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 5:11 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

TonyL222 wrote:
Sooooo, how we can we stop state and local governments from using images of the Confederate flag in an official capacity? It's a highly offensive symbol to me.


I don't know how that possibly still exists.

And the Redskins situation is ridiculous as well.

It's not about what you can do, it's about what you should do. And when a country commits a genocide against a group of people it definitely should not use derogatory names of those people for entertainment.

Ridiculous.



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beknighted



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 5:13 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

GlennMacGrady wrote:
The argument is not focused on whether any of these names are disparaging. That's a separate factual issue.

The Team's primary attack on the cancellation decision is that the disparagement provision in the Lanham (trademark) Act violates the First Amendment. One way the District Court avoided this conclusion was to hold that the disparagement clause satisfies the (intermediate scrutiny) constitutional standard of "directly advancing a substantial governmental interest". By pointing out that the government has registered all sorts of crude and disparaging names, the Team is providing strong factual argumentation that refusing to register disparaging trademarks has never been historically treated as a substantial governmental interest. (It may be a substantial interest to the disparaged party, who is free to challenge the registration.)

Thus, through this argument, the Team is asking the Circuit Court to reverse the holding about the applicability of the First Amendment. If that holding is reversed, the First Amendment pops back as a potentially a priori protector of the word "redskins". And if that happens, the entire factual issue about disparagement becomes moot and irrelevant.

Hence, the argument is a good one about a crucial constitutional issue.

By the way, the factual issue in the case is stipulated to be whether a "substantial composite" of Native American Indians believed "redskins" to be a disparaging word in 1967. And since this case is on a motion for summary judgment, all factual evidence was supposed to be viewed in the light most favorable to the Team.

It's also apparently factually unchallenged that "of the over three million trademarks registered since 1870, no registration has ever been retroactively cancelled for being disparaging. The Redskins are the first and only."


As a list, it's actually pretty crummy, since it has all sorts of items on it that are obnoxious but not disparaging (and, of course, many of them are meant to be sold to the target group, which actually is a pretty significant distinction). I imagine that the judges likely will look past the overinclusiveness, although if the team loses, I bet you'll see something in the opinion about how it's obvious you can distinguish many of the examples from what happened here.

I don't know nearly enough about this to have a strong view on whether the team has a good First Amendment argument, but it does appear on its face that it's trying to get the court to think that initial trademark applications and existing trademarks that are challenged really are the same thing for the purposes of the legal analysis. I'm not sure that's a winning argument, as I think anyone would agree that the number of trademark applications in any given year makes it impossible to give them the kind of close scrutiny that you get in a complaint case like this one.


GlennMacGrady



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 5:43 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

beknighted wrote:
GlennMacGrady wrote:
The argument is not focused on whether any of these names are disparaging. That's a separate factual issue.

The Team's primary attack on the cancellation decision is that the disparagement provision in the Lanham (trademark) Act violates the First Amendment. One way the District Court avoided this conclusion was to hold that the disparagement clause satisfies the (intermediate scrutiny) constitutional standard of "directly advancing a substantial governmental interest". By pointing out that the government has registered all sorts of crude and disparaging names, the Team is providing strong factual argumentation that refusing to register disparaging trademarks has never been historically treated as a substantial governmental interest. (It may be a substantial interest to the disparaged party, who is free to challenge the registration.)

Thus, through this argument, the Team is asking the Circuit Court to reverse the holding about the applicability of the First Amendment. If that holding is reversed, the First Amendment pops back as a potentially a priori protector of the word "redskins". And if that happens, the entire factual issue about disparagement becomes moot and irrelevant.

Hence, the argument is a good one about a crucial constitutional issue.

By the way, the factual issue in the case is stipulated to be whether a "substantial composite" of Native American Indians believed "redskins" to be a disparaging word in 1967. And since this case is on a motion for summary judgment, all factual evidence was supposed to be viewed in the light most favorable to the Team.

It's also apparently factually unchallenged that "of the over three million trademarks registered since 1870, no registration has ever been retroactively cancelled for being disparaging. The Redskins are the first and only."


As a list, it's actually pretty crummy, since it has all sorts of items on it that are obnoxious but not disparaging (and, of course, many of them are meant to be sold to the target group, which actually is a pretty significant distinction). I imagine that the judges likely will look past the overinclusiveness, although if the team loses, I bet you'll see something in the opinion about how it's obvious you can distinguish many of the examples from what happened here.

I don't know nearly enough about this to have a strong view on whether the team has a good First Amendment argument, but it does appear on its face that it's trying to get the court to think that initial trademark applications and existing trademarks that are challenged really are the same thing for the purposes of the legal analysis. I'm not sure that's a winning argument, as I think anyone would agree that the number of trademark applications in any given year makes it impossible to give them the kind of close scrutiny that you get in a complaint case like this one.


The Team is attacking the District Court holding on several fronts:

-- That the disparagment provision in the Lanham Act must be tested by strict scrutiny to survive under the First Amendment. The District Court apparently held that intermediate scrutiny applies.

-- That the disparament provision can't survive intermediate scrutiny. This is the portion of the brief in which all the colorful trademarks are cited.

-- That registered trademarks are not government speech, like words on license plates in the Texas license plate case, which the District Court held to be an applicable precedent.

-- That the disparagement provision is constitutionally void for vagueness -- i.e., "disparaging" is too subjective to provide constitutional guidance. And it's also void for fostering arbitrary enforcement.

-- That "substantial composite" means a preponderance of the evidence.

-- That raising a disparagement claim retrospectively after decades of acquiescence by the government and all potential disparagees, and after huge financial reliance by the Team on the validity of the trademarks, violates due process.

-- That such a delay raises the procedural bar of laches (i.e., it's too late in the game to bring suit). This identical case was dismissed on the basis of laches in the 2009 Harjo decision.

-- That, on the merits and using the proper standard, the name "Redskins" is not disparaging.

It's a very persuasive brief by Arnold & Porter and Quinn Emmanuel. I'm eager to see the opposing brief.

Interestingly, the complainants are not seeking a copyright cancellation of the "Hail to the Redskins" marching song.

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kPVfFzbRuc4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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PostPosted: 11/03/15 9:43 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

If a brief is any good, it ought to seem convincing. If you don't sound convincing when you make your own argument, you're in trouble.


ArtBest23



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 9:47 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

As I understand it the Dist Ct found there is no 1st Amendment issue because the Govt is not doing anything to abridge anyone's freedom of speech. The team is free to speak, print, or otherwise use the offensive word all they want, anywhere they want, anytime they want, without any interference.

The First Amenment doesn't guarantee exclusivity.

I fail to see the flaw in that analysis, which appears spot on to me.

If the First Amenment isn't even implicated, the discussion of standards of review is pointless.


ArtBest23



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PostPosted: 11/03/15 10:03 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

GlennMacGrady wrote:


It's a very persuasive brief by Arnold & Porter and Quinn Emmanuel. I'm eager to see the opposing brief.


It's well written, as I would expect. And the arguments on disparagement and standard of scrutiny are fine.

Problem is, I don't think they ever get to that point. I find the discussion of why there even is supposedly a First Amendment issue to be superficial, conclusory, and wholly unpersuasive. I see no reason why your Constitutional right to speak includes any right to exclude others from speaking. And that's certainly not explained. Nor is the conclusory assumption that removing the profitability of your speech abridges your right to speak. It's presented as essentially obvious when it is anything but. But as I said before, you do the best you can with the hand you're dealt.


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PostPosted: 11/05/15 3:43 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Mysticsfan12 wrote:
Redskins is a derogatory term for Natives. It's basically the Native American version for the N word. In fact, maybe I shouldn't even write that. Yeah, I'll cll them "Washington Football team" from now on.


If it's so bad and needs to be changed, then why do schools on some reservations use Redskins as their mascot? Until all Native American schools drop the moniker, it isn't even worth talking about because it's BOGUS.


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PostPosted: 11/05/15 4:36 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Hawkeye wrote:
Mysticsfan12 wrote:
Redskins is a derogatory term for Natives. It's basically the Native American version for the N word. In fact, maybe I shouldn't even write that. Yeah, I'll cll them "Washington Football team" from now on.


If it's so bad and needs to be changed, then why do schools on some reservations use Redskins as their mascot? Until all Native American schools drop the moniker, it isn't even worth talking about because it's BOGUS.

Two things:

1) Not all NAs think the term is derogatory. However, a sizable--and growing--portion of them do. And that is enough. This is a group that had mass genocide committed against them by this country. We should take their wishes seriously. Even if it were only 10% of their population (it's significantly more than that) that should be enough to not name a sports team that.

2) This is the equivalent of saying that because some African-Americans call each other by the n-word, or that because the word "Negro" was used by MLK and is still used by the UNCF it would be acceptable to use it in a team name.

What this is, is a case of confirmation bias where someone just listens to the people who agree with their position in order to justify doing what they want. But ignoring the significant portion of a disadvantaged class who tells them otherwise.



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Queenie



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PostPosted: 11/05/15 10:16 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Adidas is supplying design support and financial resources to help high schools shift away from Native American mascots: http://espn.go.com/moresports/story/_/id/14057043/adidas-offers-help-eliminate-native-american-mascots



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Hawkeye



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PostPosted: 11/06/15 7:07 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

justintyme wrote:
Hawkeye wrote:
Mysticsfan12 wrote:
Redskins is a derogatory term for Natives. It's basically the Native American version for the N word. In fact, maybe I shouldn't even write that. Yeah, I'll cll them "Washington Football team" from now on.


If it's so bad and needs to be changed, then why do schools on some reservations use Redskins as their mascot? Until all Native American schools drop the moniker, it isn't even worth talking about because it's BOGUS.

Two things:

1) Not all NAs think the term is derogatory. However, a sizable--and growing--portion of them do. And that is enough. This is a group that had mass genocide committed against them by this country. We should take their wishes seriously. Even if it were only 10% of their population (it's significantly more than that) that should be enough to not name a sports team that.


2) This is the equivalent of saying that because some African-Americans call each other by the n-word, or that because the word "Negro" was used by MLK and is still used by the UNCF it would be acceptable to use it in a team name.


You're mixing things---there are no schools that use the n-word or Negro as a team mascot. There ARE however, native american schools that use Redskins as a team mascot. The change the name call has come from a relatively small, loud and decently funded group that has used social media and PC desires to push their agenda onto a visible target like the NFL and the Redskins. The team has been the Redskins since 1933. The name isn't changing. The PC Police won't win this one. The NCAA may have been pushovers, but the NFL and Dan Snyder are a whole different story.


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PostPosted: 11/06/15 7:50 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Hawkeye wrote:
justintyme wrote:
Hawkeye wrote:
Mysticsfan12 wrote:
Redskins is a derogatory term for Natives. It's basically the Native American version for the N word. In fact, maybe I shouldn't even write that. Yeah, I'll cll them "Washington Football team" from now on.


If it's so bad and needs to be changed, then why do schools on some reservations use Redskins as their mascot? Until all Native American schools drop the moniker, it isn't even worth talking about because it's BOGUS.

Two things:

1) Not all NAs think the term is derogatory. However, a sizable--and growing--portion of them do. And that is enough. This is a group that had mass genocide committed against them by this country. We should take their wishes seriously. Even if it were only 10% of their population (it's significantly more than that) that should be enough to not name a sports team that.


2) This is the equivalent of saying that because some African-Americans call each other by the n-word, or that because the word "Negro" was used by MLK and is still used by the UNCF it would be acceptable to use it in a team name.


You're mixing things---there are no schools that use the n-word or Negro as a team mascot. There ARE however, native american schools that use Redskins as a team mascot. The change the name call has come from a relatively small, loud and decently funded group that has used social media and PC desires to push their agenda onto a visible target like the NFL and the Redskins. The team has been the Redskins since 1933. The name isn't changing. The PC Police won't win this one. The NCAA may have been pushovers, but the NFL and Dan Snyder are a whole different story.

So what percent of a group that we committed freaking GENOCIDE against needs to feel it is offensive before we are willing to change something as insignificant as a sports team's name?

5%? 10%? A majority? All of them?

That is what my point was about the usage of a word, even by members of that demographic, not equating to it being inoffensive. You are treating this as if it were zero sum, where it has to be offensive to everyone within that demographic, or else it is fair game. Well, that is not how these things work. It is enough that a significant portion of this demographic is telling us that it is offensive to them. We have no right to tell them it isn't. Native Americans are not one homogeneous group who all see things in the same way. They are a collective of hundreds of different nations. So just because one group uses the name as their reservation's school mascot doesn't mean that the word isn't sincerely offensive to others within that collective who have had different experiences.

This comes down to how the issue is framed. I see people point to things like reservation schools, or ESPN polls, and focus on how many Native Americans agree with thir viewpoint. Oh see, 65% say the name is not offensive. Yet framed differently, we could say 35% of a populous whom we committed atrocities against is telling us that they ARE offended. Yet we are going to tell them we don't care what they think?



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mercfan3



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PostPosted: 11/06/15 10:26 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

justintyme wrote:

So what percent of a group that we committed freaking GENOCIDE against needs to feel it is offensive before we are willing to change something as insignificant as a sports team's name?

5%? 10%? A majority? All of them?

That is what my point was about the usage of a word, even by members of that demographic, not equating to it being inoffensive. You are treating this as if it were zero sum, where it has to be offensive to everyone within that demographic, or else it is fair game. Well, that is not how these things work. It is enough that a significant portion of this demographic is telling us that it is offensive to them. We have no right to tell them it isn't. Native Americans are not one homogeneous group who all see things in the same way. They are a collective of hundreds of different nations. So just because one group uses the name as their reservation's school mascot doesn't mean that the word isn't sincerely offensive to others within that collective who have had different experiences.

This comes down to how the issue is framed. I see people point to things like reservation schools, or ESPN polls, and focus on how many Native Americans agree with thir viewpoint. Oh see, 65% say the name is not offensive. Yet framed differently, we could say 35% of a populous whom we committed atrocities against is telling us that they ARE offended. Yet we are going to tell them we don't care what they think?




It's not about what we can legally do, it's about what we should morally do. Period.



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ArtBest23



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PostPosted: 11/07/15 12:13 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Hawkeye wrote:
The team has been the Redskins since 1933.


This is without question the most pointless argument regarding the entire issue. Who cares if its been the name for a month or for 500 years? If it's offensive today, then it's offensive today and should change.

Hawkeye wrote:

The name isn't changing. The PC Police won't win this one. The NCAA may have been pushovers, but the NFL and Dan Snyder are a whole different story.


I wouldn't be so sure. They're going to lose their trademark protection. That is going to happen. And when they do, they're going to lose all their merchandising revenue when anybody and everybody is free to make Redskins merchandise and sell it for half of Danny's prices without paying a dime to Danny for licensing rights. Is Danny stubborn enough to stick to the name and give up all that revenue (and he'll probably be in breach of all sorts of licensing agreements whereby he promised to ensure exclusive rights to use the name, including to NFL Properties)? Maybe he is, but I think he's even greedier than he is stubborn. The days for that name are numbered.


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PostPosted: 12/24/15 3:47 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Yesterday, in a 9-3 decision called In re Tam, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals held the the disparagement provision of the federal Lanham (trademark) Act -- which allows the government to cancel ''scandalous, disparaging or immoral marks" -- to be unconstitutional under the First Amendment for a variety of reasons.

This is exactly the argument that the Redskins are making in their trademark case in the Fourth Circuit, as I have summarized in previous posts. Thus, while this Federal Circuit case is not legally binding on the Fourth Circuit in the Redskins case, the logic and ruling are directly on point, and In re Tam is hence powerful new legal authority in favor of the Redskins.

If the Fourth Circuit in the Redskins case decides to follow the precedent of In re Tam, that will probably be the end of this issue: the disparagement exception to the trademark statute will be treated as legally void by all courts from now on, based on the precedent of two federal Circuits. However, if the Fourth Circuit disagrees with In re Tam on the constitutional issue, there will then be a split in the federal Circuits, which will have to be addressed by the Supreme Court.

The legal game isn't over for the Redskins, but they now have possession of the ball in the paint.
pilight



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PostPosted: 05/19/16 9:47 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

New poll finds 9 in 10 Native Americans arent offended by Redskins name

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/new-poll-finds-9-in-10-native-americans-arent-offended-by-redskins-name/2016/05/18/3ea11cfa-161a-11e6-924d-838753295f9a_story.html

Quote:
Across every demographic group, the vast majority of Native Americans say the teams name does not offend them, including 80 percent who identify as politically liberal, 85 percent of college graduates, 90 percent of those enrolled in a tribe, 90 percent of non-football fans and 91 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 39.



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GlennMacGrady



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PostPosted: 05/19/16 11:55 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

pilight wrote:
New poll finds 9 in 10 Native Americans arent offended by Redskins name

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/new-poll-finds-9-in-10-native-americans-arent-offended-by-redskins-name/2016/05/18/3ea11cfa-161a-11e6-924d-838753295f9a_story.html

Quote:
Across every demographic group, the vast majority of Native Americans say the teams name does not offend them, including 80 percent who identify as politically liberal, 85 percent of college graduates, 90 percent of those enrolled in a tribe, 90 percent of non-football fans and 91 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 39.


More quotes from the article, which is behind paywall:

Quote:
Nine in 10 Native Americans say they are not offended by the Washington Redskins name, according to a new Washington Post poll that shows how few ordinary Indians have been persuaded by a national movement to change the football teams moniker.

The survey of 504 people across every state and the District reveals that the minds of Native Americans have remained unchanged since a 2004 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found the exact same result. Responses to The Posts questions about the issue were broadly consistent regardless of age, income, education, political party or proximity to reservations.

Among the Native Americans reached over a five-month period ending in April, more than 7 in 10 said they did not feel the word Redskin was disrespectful to Indians. An even higher number 8 in 10 said they would not be offended if a non-native called them that name.


The Redskins ownership has frequently cited the 2004 poll in refusing to change the name, and that poll has now been validated 12 years later.
GlennMacGrady



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PostPosted: 05/20/16 10:38 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

ESPN Panel Incensed That Native Americans Too Dumb to Be Offended by Redskins

Quote:
Moral of the story, the Washington Post poll is a shining testament to the fact that the sports medias jihad against the Reskins has absolutely nothing to do with Native Americans, and everything to do with a social justice warrior vendetta against a Republican owner who donates to GOP candidates and has Fox News anchors in the owners box as guests.

Nothing more to see here.
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