Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Art Monk And Darrell Green....Much More Than Just Meat Previously Ground-Up In The Machine.

UnburyingTheHatchetOf
IgnoredRacismVille


In case you missed it, the two former Washington Redskins did this the other day:

Darrell Green and Art Monk, both Washington Redskins Hall of Famers, say the franchise should consider changing its nickname to one that isn’t offensive to Native Americans.

In an interview Tuesday with WTOP radio radio in Washington, the former stars voiced opinions that run counter those of Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, who has said he’ll never change the name, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“[If] Native Americans feel like Redskins or the Chiefs or [another] name is offensive to them, then who are we to say to them 'No, it's not'?” said Monk, adding a name change should be “seriously considered.”

Echoed Green: “It deserves and warrants conversation because somebody is saying, 'Hey, this offends me.’”...


Now.

As you can well imagine this has led to all kinds of discussion, defensiveness and (surprise!) derision on the Sports Talk Show circuit.

It has also resulted in this:

...(The interview with Green and Monk) led to a statement from the Oneida Indian Nation, the same group that gave $10,000 to a central New York school district to help pay for new uniforms after it changed its nickname from Redskins.

“For those of us in Central New York who have long adored our local Syracuse University legend, Art Monk’s greatness is nothing new — and with his powerful statements about respect for others’ culture, he continues to make this community proud,” Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter said in the statement...

{snip}

...“They (Green and Monk) have joined a growing movement around what should be a universally accepted idea: that denigrating this country’s indigenous people by promoting ugly stereotypes is unacceptable in the 21st century,” Halbritter further said in the statement. “As the representative of one of those indigenous peoples, I want to thank and commend Mr. Monk and Mr. Green for their leadership just as I did the children of Cooperstown. Together, they are teaching this country a critical lesson about the ideals of mutual respect and inclusion.”...



As for the current owner of Washington's NFL, the billionare Mr. Snyder....

...Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder has vowed to “NEVER” change the name of his football team, even as it faces a landmark lawsuit in a federal trademark court and controversy has swirled around it during the offseason...


Imagine that!


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Wednesday Night Update...Looks like Mr. Green is pulling back a little...Dave Zirin wonders what's really up with that...


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2 comments:

Danneau said...

Sounds like a little bit of Dave Zirin.

RossK said...

Danneau--

Indeed.

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