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6 Jul, 2020 15:31

Time to kill off the Redskins? Teams changing their names to cave in to mobs who don’t watch sports will backfire

Time to kill off the Redskins? Teams changing their names to cave in to mobs who don’t watch sports will backfire

If Washington’s NFL team and the Cleveland Indians change their names, nothing will really change. The only reason wokesters are making these demands is because they want to prop up the corpse of George Floyd as a protest sign.

Pressure being mounted against sports teams that are named after Native Americans isn’t exactly new. The NFL football team known as the Washington Redskins has been under fire in the past for having a supposedly ‘racist’ team name, and similar criticism has been directed at Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians.  

However, these sorts of accusations never really lead to anything, and have been dismissed as people being too easily offended. Both of these team names are similar to a team being called the Spartans or the Trojans, references to a warrior culture, which is common in sports. 

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Times seem to be changing, however. With both Nike and FedEx putting pressure on Washington’s team, they have decided to review the name. This will most likely end with it being changed to something less offensive (suggestions have ranged from the Redhawks, to the Senators and the Redtails) but will still likely offend the perpetually offended. 

Then again, this whole debate on the team names has nothing to do with race. If the Cleveland Indians follow suit, it won’t matter. This is not about race. This is about control.

What’s funny about this is that the mobs that are being capitulated to by the Redskins’ sponsors aren’t even their customers in the first place, but it’s that capitulation that causes them to do what they do. 

Nike’s stock has been best described as inconsistent since hiring failed ex-San Francisco 49ers quarterback and professional protester Colin Kaepernick in 2018. In the last quarter, Nike lost $790 million and ended up laying off a substantial amount of staff. Though some would lay the blame on the Covid-19 pandemic, Nike has stated that this isn’t the case. 

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These sorts of virtue signals do nothing for business, because the people making the demands are not people who buy Nike products or ship things with FedEx. Those who make these demands are not consumers at all. They’re protesters. They spend all of their time complaining about things that offend them, looking to get them changed. They’re a bunch of Karens with a massive leftist political bent. They’re no different than Woke Twitter either, given that Woke Twitter seems to be trying to cancel someone new every single day now in the name of ‘justice’. 

If the Redskins and the Indians change their team names, nothing will change. The only reason that these people are making these demands is because they want to prop up the corpse of George Floyd as a protest sign. 

These people don’t give one iota of a damn about American football, baseball, shoes, or shipping services. They want a cultural change in their favor because they can’t live in a world where something offends someone. This mob will move on to the next thing to be mad about. They won’t give you a parade for being a sap.

However, this may end up with Colin Kaepernick playing football again. So, congratulations to the team that picks him up. The team owner can then write a book called ‘How to waste money’ and have more expertise than Paris Hilton on the subject.

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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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