Jump to content

Offensive sports nicknames/logos


mcrosby

Recommended Posts

Hey my high school is called the Bombers. And our logo is an airplane with missiles on it. I don't think that anyone in our school finds the name or the logo offensive. I know I certainly don't, but those anti-war liberal people might.

i aint got no problem with a team callin themselves teh Bombers. hell, my favorite footy side's Bombers...but you may wanna be careful where you wear your school hoodie or whatever...

why a Milwaukee Bomber was grounded

Entertaining and exceptionally typical: Lots of derisive straw-manning of "those anti-war liberal types" but in fact the only people who object to sports teams named "Bombers" are agents of the U.S. government.

On names that might be insulting to this or that ethnic or other group, I think the test is not, as most defenders of names like "Redskins" have it, asking what would happen if Irish-Americans started objecting to Celtics or if PETA started objecting to animals. (This is the wrong test because we know the answer: Nobody would care, because such objections are ridiculous. Really. Yes, the Anglo-Scottish side of my family spent a couple of generations oppressing my Irish ancestors in Ireland, then they came over here, and when a couple hundred years later my Irish ancestors followed, my Anglo-Scottish-American ancestors discriminated against them again. "Celtic" or "fighting Irish" were not terms of abuse in either period when one side of my family was busy oppressin' the other, so they aren't offensive. The Boston Micks, or the Notre Dame Drunken Hibes, or the Narrowbacks or the Paddies, those would be a different story.)

Anyway, the real test is whether most people would want their children to wear the team's shirt if the name was translated to the equivalent term for people of African descent. Would most people be willing to send their children to school wearing a Cleveland Zulus shirt? Probably, so Indians is fine. How about an Atlanta Moranis shirt? ("Morani" is the plural form of the name of young warriors in the Masai tribe.) Again, probably yes.

The closest equivalent to "Redskin," though, is either "Darkie" or "N--ger." And nobody I know would send his or her child to school wearing a Washington Darkies or Washington N--gers shirt, not even if it was explained that the infamously racist owner of the team back in the day actually meant that name to commemorate his dark-skinned players. As to Chief Wahoo, picture instead a Jim Crow era Sambo face, and again you're in the realm where no decent person would allow his children to go to school wearing such a logo. (Well, no decent American. In Holland, giant-lipped Sambo faces are a symbol of Christmas, because instead of being a jolly old man from the North Pole with elves, the Dutch Santa is a Spanish priest who has a team of negro slaves. And everybody is fine with that. Just goes to show that context is everything.) Of course, Wahoo isn't an exact parallel, since there is little history of Sambo-like visual depictions of Native Americans, so Wahoo might actually fall somewhere between a plainly offensive Sambo face and an inoffensive drawing of Fat Albert.

But that is the mental exercise best suited to determining whether a sports team name or logo is beyond the bounds of propriety.

20082614447.png
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 89
  • Created
  • Last Reply
I had to write a paper on this exact thing. I basically went the way of saying most Indian nicknames aren't offensive at all. Take for example the Seminoles of Florida State who did it to honor the tribe, and them and the tribe still work together. Also, the Fighting Illini of Illinois is not offensive to anyone considering the Illini is not even a real tribe, and could be described as a person who lives in Illinois. Also in Illinois there is a high school with the name Blazing Trojans which many people could take the rwrong way.

You'd might like to know our resident Sodboy13 is responsible for coming up with the Blazing Trojans name(by accident).

I also see two Bloomington teams on Northern Thunders' list. The Bloomers logo however was a blossom and I have yet to think of how that's offensive. During Bloomington's Three-I League days, they seemed to change names every other season often associating with their major league affiliates(Cardinals,Cubs,Tigers,ect.).

And one last comment on the Cincinnati Reds. During the 50's Cold War era, the Reds changed their name to the Red Legs so as not to be associated with the Soviet Communist Reds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The closest equivalent to "Redskin," though, is either "Darkie" or "N--ger."

Are you sure about this? I can honestly say that I've never been referred to as a Redskin. Maybe I'm just very fortunate, or sheltered, but I'd say it's not even close to "N--ger."

I think the N word is probably the most complex and controversial word in American English. There is a book about the history of the word. Hawk is probably right that redskin is not as bad as n*gger. Just look at this thread (which, by the way, is staying incredibly mature and respectful) and look at how no one has a problem with terms such as redskin, but both BallWonk and myself have self censored n*gger.

Native Americans did not have an easier time that Africans in this country. However, I would argue that African Americans face more racism than any other minority. You can chalk this up to any number of reasons. For that alone I think the N word is unique and no other term carries with it the implications of the N word.

I am not Native American, nor do I know enough about the culture to know how offensive redskin is. All I know is that in old westerns the Native Americans were always refered to as redskins or savages. In those old movies they also freely used words such as negro and chinaman. In the newer westerns, they make sure only the black hat bad guys say those words. Again, I am not an expert on the subject so I may be wrong, but from my point of view I have never seen redskin used positively.

So I think Hawk is right that redskin might not have as negative a connotation as n*gger, but I think BallWonk makes some great points as well. Terms such as Mick, Wop, Beaner, or Jap are racists as hell, but probably do not carry the same level of infamy in this country as n*gger. Still, I could never see any team getting away with one of those names. That's why I'm surprised that the Redskins have their name.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Orangemen were so named because of an Onondagan Indian Chief.

If that's the case, I'm surprised the NCAA hasn't banned the use of the Syracuse Orange nickname.

They stopped using the Native American mascot in the late 70's because of pressure from Native American students, and now we have Otto the Orange. Since they changed the mascot and have since changed the nickname to just "Orange" they shouldn't have any problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Orangemen were so named because of an Onondagan Indian Chief.

If that's the case, I'm surprised the NCAA hasn't banned the use of the Syracuse Orange nickname.

They stopped using the Native American mascot in the late 70's because of pressure from Native American students, and now we have Otto the Orange. Since they changed the mascot and have since changed the nickname to just "Orange" they shouldn't have any problems.

But what happens when Tropicana and Minute Maid object? :blink:

[Croatia National Team Manager Slavan] Bilic then went on to explain how Croatia's success can partially be put down to his progressive man-management techniques. "Sometimes I lie in the bed with my players. I go to the room of Vedran Corluka and Luka Modric when I see they have a problem and I lie in bed with them and we talk for 10 minutes." Maybe Capello could try getting through to his players this way too? Although how far he'd get with Joe Cole jumping up and down on the mattress and Rooney demanding to be read his favourite page from The Very Hungry Caterpillar is open to question. --The Guardian's Fiver, 08 September 2008

Attention: In order to obtain maximum enjoyment from your stay at the CCSLC, the reader is advised that the above post may contain large amounts of sarcasm, dry humour, or statements which should not be taken in any true sort of seriousness. As a result, the above poster absolves himself of any and all blame in the event that a forum user responds to the aforementioned post without taking the previous notice into account. Thank you for your cooperation, and enjoy your stay at the CCSLC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.