What's in a Name? Don't Ask...

Brian J. Noggle muses about the possible upcoming name change of the Washington Redskins. He considers one of the suggestions, "Washington Warriors," but warns it will probably not work because "Warriors" is also one of the problematic team names associated with Native Americans.

Even though the organization says that no Native American images or icons will be associated with the new team name or logo, the word "Warriors" could itself be too problematic.

Although many of the Native-related nicknames have logos and images only lightly brushed by tribal imagery, others wade pretty deeply into stereotyped versions of Native people. While the drive to eliminate them all could go too far, I have to say that erasing "Redskins" doesn't seem out of line. Some of the other names and nicknames were chosen as ways of identifying with the strength or dignity of certain Native tribes or individuals. But the word "redskin" was pretty much always a slur, so it's next to impossible to defend.

But of course, sorting that out would take attention to detail, history and nuance, and there's precious little of those qualities in use in just about any debate in our nation at the moment.