There’s surely no insult intended by those cheering for the Redskins. Finally, haven’t we come far enough not to take everything so personally?

Spoken like a true paleface.

My more-considered response is that, yes, we should — under certain circumstances — relinquish beloved tradition to the mature moment. This seems to be the sentiment of President Obama, who recently said that if he were the team owner, he would consider changing the name.

Understandable as it is for fans to resist changing the name of their team, loyalty to a name isn’t really the point. The point is that “redskin,” unlike the Native American-related names of other teams, refers to a physical characteristic. It is implicitly racial and, through its usage, has been explicitly racist. We needn’t wander far into the maze of other offensive terms, many once considered humorous, that would be instantly unacceptable today.