Phill Simms taking a stance against Washington football team, won't say 'Redskins' on air
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| Washingtonpost.com |
Team owner Dan Snyder who has turned the last 12 months into the biggest PR disaster the team could have ever dreamed of. He has been adamant in finding groups of Native North Americans who are not offended by the name to petition against the name change ( a dreadful argument). According to Erik Stegman, an author of a new report on Native mascots and team names, that discussion misses the point.
"This entire debate is being spun in the wrong direction, and it doesn't really matter whether or not one Native person you talk to supports or doesn't," Stegman said in an interview with The Huffington Post. "When you have kids in schools who are getting harassed, who are feeling a lack of self-worth because they themselves have become a mascot for someone else, I think that's really what the point is all about. We need to stop having this debate over which Native people are offended because it's a ridiculous debate."Thankfully prolific NFL icons like CBS'S Phill Simms are taking a stand in what they believe in and making it be known that, what is being ignored here, is far more important than just a name change. That "redskins" is not a nickname, its a racial slur. Phill Simms Via USA Today
Two influential NFL voices — including CBS lead analyst Phil Simms, who will handle Washington's Week 4 game — said Monday they likely won't use the term "Redskins" when discussing the franchise.Other notable stances have been taken by Tony Dungy,and most notably Bob Costas who said this durning a halftime essay last October:
"My very first thought is it will be Washington the whole game," Simms told The Associated Press on Monday.
I never really thought about it, and then it came up and it made me think about it," Simms added. "There are a lot of things that can come up in a broadcast, and I am sensitive to this."
"Think for a moment about the term 'Redskins,' and how it truly differs from all the others. Ask yourself what the equivalent would be, if directed toward African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, or members of any other ethnic group. When considered that way, 'Redskins' can't possibly honor a heritage, or noble character trait, nor can it possibly be considered a neutral term. It's an insult, a slur, no matter how benign the present-day intent.'"
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