What Do Jeremy Lin and the Redskins Have in Common? Racism, Says D.C. Anchor

There has been a lot of talk about racism in sports recently. From two seriously high-profile incidents in the English Premier League to the more casual form of racism our lazy, irresponsible, stateside sportswriters have thrust upon the likes of Jeremy Lin, we cannot seem to avoid talking about racism in sports. 

In an odd way, this is one of those conversations that is important to have. There is no place for hateful speech (or actions) in sports, but when those situations arise, it gives us an opportunity to assess the state of our sports culture when it comes to social intolerance.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post wrote a story Monday about the views of veteran Washington, DC television anchor Jim Vance, who took the opportunity—with the recent focus on Lin—to wonder if the Redskins should revisit changing their name. Via DC Sports Bog: 

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What I find curious is how some people I’ve talked to are offended by a derogatory term for Asians, but not by the word ‘Redskin.’ Folks, ‘Redskins’ is not a term of endearment, any more than the N word or any other racial or ethnic slur. From its inception and inclusion in our language, it was meant to be an insult.

What’s fascinating is that while ‘Redskin’ the word may be awful to some people, ‘Redskin’ the player or ‘Redskins’ the team is adored by so many. There are people in this town who love the Redskins more than they do their own spouse. They’re willing to tell you that to your face, in front of their spouse. They don’t even think of the original connotation of the word. It is not toxic to them.

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Can racism be grandfathered in? Can something be excused in today's find-offense-in-everything-we-say culture because it has been accepted for decades? Can racism be a "been there, complained about that" situation?

In Washington, maybe it can. In Cleveland, with the Indians, maybe it can. In Atlanta—I'm looking in your general direction, fans who do the Tomahawk Chop—it can.

Vance admitted the term Redskin is now seen as something to celebrate in the D.C. area—clearly not a term used in a derogatory way. But, he's not wrong in bringing up the point that it's only perceived as something to celebrate because there isn't a local minority constantly raising the issue. If that minority does exist near the nation's capital, its voice is immensely drowned out.

That's essentially the issue with Lin and the NBA. Nobody would dare try to get away with blatant racist jokes about a black player because we went through decades of that before finally coming to our senses as a culture as to what is and isn't acceptable. Of course, there are bigots who still think these terrible things, but at least they are wise enough to keep it to themselves. As a culture, we've become so justifiably sensitive to racism against African-American players that nobody (at least no writer) would dare try to get away with clever, yet racist word play.

With an Asian man who is a complete novelty in the American sports consciousness, people have lined up their puns like they've been collecting dust on a shelf for decades, just waiting for the chance to put the kid's face inside a fortune cookie or use a headline like "Amasian."

Funny? Maybe some of them have been funny. Some, however, have been really offensive. You can never tell where someone else's line will be. You may think the fortune-cookie flap was harmless fun. Others, clearly, found it totally insensitive. 

More to the issue Vance was trying to forward: He is not talking about a cookie gag.

Nobody can deny the term Redskin is offensive to Native Americans. It would be like having a baseball team in Brooklyn, calling it the Shylocks and expecting people to believe the owners are just huge Shakespeare fans. As a person of Jewish faith, I find that nickname totally offensive (though it seems not so offensive since I decided to use the example in this piece, I realize). The point is, nobody would name a team something so offensive because the uproar of complaints would stop that movement in its tracks.

Just because there is no longer a big enough group of people complaining about the name Redskins (or Indians) doesn't mean the name isn't offensive.

It is, however, a slippery slope for some teams. The Braves can make the case their name is a term of pride in Native-American culture. A few years ago, the NCAA erroneously tried to legislate all Native-American names out of college sports, before tribes like the Seminoles in Florida—and others around the country—rebuked the edict by allowing Florida State to use the mascot and name. 

Seminoles isn't exactly Redskins, is it?

This is where we are with regard to racism in sports today. We know racism exists. We finally acknowledge when we see it, which sadly still happens to be all the damn time.

It just seems we aren't to the point where we really want to do anything about it. The not-so-clever pun or lazy Asian joke still makes the rounds and we care for a few days, a guy gets fired, another suspended, and another apologizes while getting millions of page views. The world keeps turning. We know there is something off about referring to the white linebacker having a "high motor" and the black linebacker being a "natural athlete." Still, people make the jokes and, still, people use the comparisons.

And we root for the teams with racist names.

We are getting there. But it's a long way to go before the Redskins will cease to exist. The Tomahawk Chop…anytime you want to let that go, Atlanta. Anytime is fine.