March 5, 1992 Off in the distance the wheels of change are grinding. You may not be able to hear them yet. But it’s only a matter of time until “Redskins” is gone. I’ve grown accustomed to it over the years — and fond of it, I have to admit. I loved the old helmet, the one with the feather. I certainly never thought of myself as a racist for caring about the “Redskins.” I never thought of the name as anything but harmless, something protected by antiquity. That’s because I never really thought about it. It’s not an animal name, like the Chicago Bears, or a weather name, like the Phoenix Suns, or homage to a city’s history, like the Pittsburgh Steelers. Oh sure, we don’t mean anything offensive by it. But what kind of excuse is that? You’ve heard this before, but how well would the name Blackskins play here? Why should the American Indians accept that we don’t mean anything bad by it? Why should they have to be more understanding than the rest of us?" Get the Story:
DC Sports Blog: When Tony Kornheiser wrote about the Redskins nickname (The Washington Post 2/14) Related Stories:
Column: Washington Redskins team defends use of racial slur (2/14)
Column: Finally listening to Native Americans about mascots (2/11)
Blog: Momentum builds to eliminate offensive Redskins name (2/11)
NMAI draws capacity crowd to symposium on Indian mascots (2/8)
NMAI's Indian mascot symposium tackles controversial topic (2/7)
Column: It's time to take stand against Washington Redskins (2/7)
Blog: Mayor of Washington DC refuses to use 'Redskins' name (2/6)
Agenda for symposium on Indian mascots in sports at NMAI (2/4)
Washington mayor supports elimination of 'Redskins' mascot (01/10)
Rep. Cole, Chickasaw, calls Redskins mascot 'very offensive' (01/18)
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