Redskin

"Redskin" is a controversial term for Native Americans and one of the color metaphors for race used in North America throughout history. It is often considered a pejorative. With it's companion term "pale face", it has been taken by some as a sort of racial term of affection, the proponents of which would claim that the term could be used freely in many contexts and settings without any negative connotations whatsoever. However, as with any discriminatory term, the perceived negativity will always be down-played by those whom the term doesn't put down or pidgen hole. One person's lighthearted 'term of affection' is another person's racial slur.

Related Topics:
Native Americans - Color metaphors for race - North America - Pejorative - Pale face - Term of affection

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There is a myth that the term originates from the fact that in the past there was a going rate for the scalps or hides of indigenous men, women, and children often referred to as "Redskins". The myth states that these "redskin" trophies could be sold to most frontier trading posts. However, as was pointed out by Geoffrey Nunberg on the June 14, 2005 episode of NPR's Fresh Air, the historical evidence provides little or no support for this theory. His commentary states, "as best I can tell there's no historical record that connects redskin to the bounties for scalps, and in fact nobody seems to have mentioned the connection until about a dozen years ago." (Source: Redskin Blues, Geoffrey Nunberg.)

Related Topics:
Geoffrey Nunberg - Fresh Air

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The name "Redskins" would later be be used for a NFL football team. The team was originally known as the Boston Braves, but changed to the Boston Redskins when they left Braves field for Fenway Park. The name "Redskins" was chosen to honor the team's coach, William "Lone Star" Weitz, whose mother was Sioux. In 1937 the team moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Redskins. In the decades following the move to Washington, the team's owner George Preston Marshall was a controversial figure who refused to allow black players onto his team until 1962. (Source: Redskins Book, Washingtonpost.com.)

Related Topics:
NFL - Football - Fenway Park - Sioux - Washington, D.C. - Washington Redskins - George Preston Marshall

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In recent years the name has become controversial with some Native American groups and their supporters arguing that since they view the word "redskin" as an offensive slur that it is inappropriate for a NFL team to continue to use it, regardless of whether any offense is intended.

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According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the term "redskin" had more to do with the perceived reddish skin color of Native Americans, as in the terms "red Indian" and "red man".

Related Topics:
Skin color - Native Americans

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