The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board voted 2-1 to cancel all six proprietary trademarks held by the Washington Redskins professional football team. Whether you care about football or not, if you care about free speech, ethnic sensitivity, or have an opinion regarding a culture that is becoming too politically correct, or not politically correct enough, this story should interest you.
Pressure has been brought for years to get the team’s owner to change the name from what some consider to be an ugly slur to….well, pretty much anything that isn’t. And given the fact that most of us would not consider calling an actual Native American Indian a “redskin” to her face, presumably because we know it’s offensive to do so, it’s hard to imagine why it’s okay to promote and label a bunch of guys playing football, “redskins”.? The whole thing just feels wrong, or at least pretty “off”.
On the other hand, what about free speech? Doesn’t the constitution protect people’s right to be offensive as long as in doing so they are not endangering others? It does, and there is no indication that the Washington franchise’s name inspires hatred or violence, so perhaps this would be better addressed through market pressures created by a public that finds the name offensive.
Interestingly, when USA Today asked people how they felt about the move to change the Redskin’s name, their poll framed the issue in a way that such fights are often framed, and it’s a way that needlessly polarizes people and, I think, makes it increasingly difficult to get a good outcome in such situations.
They asked people if it was “time to change the Redskin’s name”, and invited people to answer a, “Yes, it’s beyond time” or b, “No, it’s tradition”.? Like the key combatants in this cultural dust up, the poll itself divides the issue between progressives who knew the “right response” ages ago and therefore say that the change is overdue, and traditionalists who see in this fight, not just the issue of a name, but the value of tradition itself. With battle lines drawn that way, a fight is almost assured, as it is when lines are drawn that way whether the struggle is about gay marriage, guns, or the name of a football team.
Instead of pitting traditionalists against progressives, as we increasingly do in so many parts of contemporary cultural, political and social life, we might consider an alternative. We might think together about the real costs of giving up the name, and also about the real benefits. In fact, failing to do this actually plays into the hands of those who want to retain the name because now the fight is not about the name but about respect for tradition!
As is so often the case, whether the issue is cultural/communal or personal/familial, if all parties involved were asked what is at stake for them in the struggle, and not simply what result they seek, than more people would probably get more of what they want – except of course from the media which profits from stirring pots and generating heat more than they do from creating conversations and shedding light.
Listed for many years in Newsweek as one of America’s “50 Most Influential Rabbis” and recognized as one of our nation’s leading “Preachers and Teachers,” by Beliefnet.com, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield serves as the President of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a training institute, think tank, and resource center nurturing religious and intellectual pluralism within the Jewish community, and the wider world, preparing people to meet the biggest challenges we face in our increasingly polarized world.
An ordained Orthodox rabbi who studied for his PhD and taught at The Jewish Theological Seminary, he has also taught the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs an ongoing seminar, and American Jewish University. Rabbi Brad regularly teaches and consults for the US Army and United States Department of Defense, religious organizations — Jewish and Christian — including United Seminary (Methodist), Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (Modern Orthodox) Luther Seminary (Lutheran), and The Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative) — civic organizations including No Labels, Odyssey Impact, and The Aspen Institute, numerous Jewish Federations, and a variety of communal and family foundations.
Hirschfield is the author and editor of numerous books, including You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism, writes a column for Religion News Service, and appears regularly on TV and radio in outlets ranging from The Washington Post to Fox News Channel. He is also the founder of the Stand and See Fellowship, which brings hundreds of Christian religious leaders to Israel, preparing them to address the increasing polarization around Middle East issues — and really all currently polarizing issues at home and abroad — with six words, “It’s more complicated than we know.”
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