KK Writes| Mike Wise Asks RG3 About the Name "Redskins"

[ouvan59]

I agree, it is a legitimate topic, people just don't wanna have to deal with it.

And I think people look to a group that supports their opinion and ignore the ones that don't and say "see, 'they' don't care, so why should I?"

It may be a legitimate topic but that's not something you blindside RGIII with. If you want to ask him that question you do it in a one-on-one setting. This wasn't a "Get to know RGIII" setting. It was pre-game press conference which should be used to discuss the game and/or his injury.

[RFKFedEx]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I'm glad to see that this conversation has stayed on track for a solid 90 posts, though admittedly I was more interested in Mike Wise's pedaling of his own political agenda than the facets of said political agenda.

Thanks for posting this. I always find the topic fascinating and it comes up on ES every few months.

[DeadExField]

It may be a legitimate topic but that's not something you blindside RGIII with. If you want to ask him that question you do it in a one-on-one setting. This wasn't a "Get to know RGIII" setting. It was pre-game press conference which should be used to discuss the game and/or his injury.

I'd love to get back to football talk, the media is becoming a distraction of it's own. Maybe time to tell them no more pressers for the season

[kevinklein]

I'd love to get back to football talk, the media is becoming a distraction of it's own. Maybe time to tell them no more pressers for the season

Pressers are mandatory, a part of every spot. That never has been, nor will it ever be an option. Football is an industry, and the media is a huge part of it.

[JaxJoe]

i cannot speak to your experience, but i will say that mine differs greatly.

our opinions dont really matter. native americans opinions do, and, fortunately, they dont have a problem with it.



btw, someone told wise that native american schools use the name as their mascot and you know what he said? "those people dont count". but, he does, apparently.

nice.

I agree with this. I've traveled out west many times and have travelled to indian reservations a bunch. If any sports gear is worn, you will see are a vast majority of native americans wearing Redskins gear followed by the Chiefs. I asked a number of folks over the years and they all say they like the image and the name. This 'offense' is only a myth made up by lefties looking for another cause to protest. I've never met an indian who agrees with the likes of Mike Wise.

[Diss]

When the Redskins issue went to court, do you know how many native americans were involved? Seven.

Even if native americans only represent two percent of the entire population (I have no idea if that number is accurate, but for the purposes of this discussion, I'll go along with it), don't you think they'd be able to rally up more than seven people to fight this if it was really an issue they felt strongly about? If native americans truly believed this was offensive, don't you think they'd at least be able to get eight (or ... gasp ... maybe even nine) people involved in the cause?

It's very easy to check the accuracy of the number I mentioned. The internet is very helpful these days, so I hear. It's actually less than 2 percent (1.6), but I rounded it up.

And are you SERIOUSLY suggesting that there were/are only seven Native Americans who care about this issue because that's the amount that represented the issue in court? Really? You honestly think there are only seven people "involved in the cause"? I don't even know how to respond to that.

At the 1992 Super Bowl in MN alone, just as an example, there were close to 2,000 Native Americans who protested the name.

You said earlier that nothing came out of the efforts these people have made in court. Again, not true. In 1999, they got judges to cancel federal trademarks of the Redskins name “on the grounds that the subject marks may disparage Native Americans and may bring them into contempt or disrepute.” The ruling was subsequently overturned, but hardly say that was "nothing."

If you're going to try to fight someone (Wise) who you consider a sensationalist pushing his own agenda, then at least be armed with the right facts so that you don't end up falling in the same category.

The thing is, as I continue to stress, I generally agree with you on the name and whether or not it's "offensive," I simply believe that this issue goes deeper than the standard "everyone in America's too sensitive" response, and I totally get why Wise would use this time to ask a question about an issue that he's always (unpopularly) addressed.

I find the uproar about the fact that he asked this ridiculous. It doesn't affect my excitement about what the team is doing at all. If you don't agree with him, have the stones to say why and move along. It's the whole, "How dare he ask this" that strikes me as very, dare I say it, un-American.

[Bang]

This 'offense' is only a myth made up by lefties looking for another cause to protest. .

Speaking of myths...

Seriously, ignorance like this is ridiculous.
These aren't "liberals' looking for a reason to complain.
The base of this are money and publicity grubbing LAWYERS wanting to cash in.

And last I checked, sleaze knows no partisanship.

~Bang

[Bibby]

Mike Wise is a moron for asking such a question during an interview dealing with RGIII gameday status. I'd be shocked if Griffin ever gives him a personal one-on-one interview after that baiting.

[grhqofb5]

This may have been posted previously (in one of the hundreds of threads on this topic), but here it is. Take it for what it's worth.

http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycent...s_09-24_pr.pdf

Most Indians Say Name of Washington “Redskins” Is Acceptable
While 9 Percent Call It Offensive, Annenberg Data Show

Most American Indians say that calling Washington’s professional football team the “Redskins”
does not bother them, the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey
shows.
Ninety percent of Indians took that position, while 9 percent said they found the name
“offensive.” One percent had no answer. The margin of sampling error for those findings was
plus or minus two percentage points.
Because they make up a very small proportion of the total population, the responses of 768
people who said they were Indians or Native Americans were collected over a very long period of
polling, from October 7, 2003 through September 20, 2004. They included Indians from every
state except Alaska and Hawaii, where the Annenberg survey does not interview. The question
that was put to them was “The professional football team in Washington calls itself the
Washington Redskins. As a Native American, do you find that name offensive or doesn’t it
bother you?”
_______

[SittingBull]

Wise is a hack plain and simple. His motivation is to stir up **** not write good articles. He sounds even sadder trying to be a radio host.

[kevinklein]

Wise is a hack plain and simple. His motivation is to stir up **** not write good articles. He sounds even sadder trying to be a radio host.

Well, he won't be doing that any longer...

[LD0506]

The base of this are money and publicity grubbing LAWYERS wanting to cash in.

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

[grego]

- (3) As I've found out in my own investigations, many are afraid to bring up this issue because of a certain "mob mentality" that exists in America. So the more people are willing to stand up to that mob the more others will also be willing to stand up to it. That's one of the reasons I started to speak my opinion in this thread rather than let it turn into a hate-fest of Mike Wise.

i think its a noble thing to go against the grain, or stand from something when seemingly everyone is against you. there are beliefs i hold where i feel the same way.

i dont see this as one of them, however i'm sure there are some redskins fans that dont want to change the name for nothing more than tradition, regardless of the facts.

i have given the other side of this argument creedence, at least until i stated looking into the name and how native americans actually felt about it. it was their thoughts ('their' overwhelmingly- again- not "all", of course) on the name that have caused me to defend it, not traditionalist white people.

[DeadExField]

Pressers are mandatory, a part of every spot. That never has been, nor will it ever be an option. Football is an industry, and the media is a huge part of it.

I totally understand that. Wishful thinking on my end

[themurf]

If you don't agree with him, have the stones to say why and move along.

That's the thing, Mike Wise brings this up every year or so and, even though nothing ever comes of it, he can't get to that whole "move along" step. He's on record as saying he doesn't agree with it and he's said why. That apparently means he's got stones, in your eyes. Whatever. But then he doesn't ever move along. So just because he doesn't get the reaction he likes, the rest of us are going to be subjected to the same tired song and dance for as long as he remains employed in the area? If that's the case, I'm sorry but I really hope the newspaper industry takes another nosedive sooner rather than later.