Racist Redskins Trademark To Stay

16.5.09

For as long as I can remember there has been a movement to stop the Washington Redskins from using their racist trademark. The trademark as seen in the picture here reduces Indians to nothing more than a mere mascot.

This racist habit has a long standing in American history and it still common to find Indian mascots attached to an assortment of sport codes and teams.

Here in South Africa, Indians are similarly reduced to a racist essence by a chain of fast food restaurants called the "Spur". (See my previous post on the Spur.)

About four hours ago, as of this writing, a federal appeals court in Washington D.C. ruled that the Redskins can continue to use their trademark mascot. The ruling comes after a 17 year battle with a group of Indians who argued that the trademark is racist.

The U.S. Court of Appeals did not touch the question of racism but ruled in favour of the Washington Redskins on the basis of a "legal technicality".

I am disgusted by this decision. When I lived in the Baltimore-Washington area my blood would boil each time I saw the Redskins mascot.

The same is true now when I drive past a Spur restaurant. What the hell is the sense of reducing a people to nothing more than a mascot? And why is this piece of racist imagery even present here in South Africa?

I have been here before (see my post entitled "Racist Imaging", for example). My blood also boils when I see Jeep Grand Cherokees. Do the folks who drive these cars not see the inherent racism?

I can vouch for the fact that most folks who live in the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia region are not concerned about the racism portrayed in the Redskins trademark mascot.

What a damn shame hey? Post-racial era my foot. There can be no post-race anything in settler dominated/derived societies.

Onward!

Ridwan Laher

Picture and Story Credit