Navajo Woman Looks Back After Almost 10 Years Fighting Racist Team Names
Amanda Blackhorse said things have changed since a 2005 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Redskins, when she and other protesters faced fans’ verbal abuse for having the audacity to suggest that the teams’ names were racist.
Today, Blackhorse has President Barack Obama on her side. And half of the U.S. Senate, as well as tribes, organizations and publications, all of whhichhave said the name Redskins is offensive. And, most importantly, a board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which ruled last month that the name is derogatory and the team can no longer hold a trademark to it.
“This is not just a Native American issue anymore,” said Blackhorse, a Navajo from Kayenta.
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Blackhorse said it was because they found the name so offensive that she and the other plaintiffs chose to target the Washington Redskins first - as opposed to the Chiefs, the Cleveland Indians or any number of other professional teams with tribal mascots. But that does not mean the other teams are off the hook in her eyes.
“You can love Native Americans and not have anything against them, but yet your fans will do very bizarre rituals in these games that are very stereotypical of Native American people,” Blackhorse said.
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Navajo woman looks back after almost 10 years fighting @Redskins’ name http://t.co/CV9uV0CyA0 #Navajo #NavajoNation #NotYourMascot
— Navajo News Network (@NavajoNewsNet) July 9, 2014