”If you replace the current name with that, aren’t all the same people in face paint playing Indian going to continue to do the same thing,“ Native filmmaker Ben West says
Washington’s NFL team announced it was dropping Redskins as its team name earlier this week, but has yet to announce a replacement. If the team wants to get the new name right, the filmmakers behind the new documentary “Imagine the Indian” say the replacement should avoid any Native American references or callbacks to the racist slur.
Directors Aviva Kempner and Ben West, whose film focuses on the fight to change the team name, told TheWrap that team owner Dan Snyder’s decision retire the name is a huge step in the right direction, but they hope the team will start from scratch in picking a new name and logo and avoid anything equally offensive.
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“I hope that it’s done responsibly. I think some of the names being kicked around right now are problematic, and anything including ‘Red’ in it, we need to start with a clean slate here, not try to hang onto any of the holdover from previous names and imagery,” West, a member of the Cheyenne nation, said of some of the popular options being floated around, such as Washington Warriors or Washington Red Tails. “In this case, the obvious problem is that if you replace the current name with that, aren’t all the same people in face paint playing Indian going to continue to do the same thing?”
Also Read: Washington Redskins to Change Team Name
“When Dan Snyder said ‘NEVER,’ he meant never,” Kempner added. “It was only when he started to lose corporate support did he come to the plate and say, okay I’m going to change the name. It’s still that insensitivity on his part of saying, ‘OK, I’m going to change the name.’ But he hasn’t asked anything about any community input. We’re worried that he’s going to fall into the hole of offending a certain number of people.”
Washington announced it would retire the team name after pressure from its biggest corporate sponsors, including Pepsi and FedEx, which has naming rights on Washington’s stadium. Along with FedEx, a group of investors worth more than $600 billion lobbied Nike and PepsiCo to pressure the team to change its name. Nike even removed all Redskins merchandise from its online store. And as Snyder works to pursue construction of a new stadium, the Washington, D.C., city council said that the team would never be allowed back with the Redskins team name.
The former team name was criticized for decades, with Snyder resisting changing the name for years. So as the team weighs new options, West suspected that names like Red Tails or Warriors could allow the team to hang onto its red uniforms and its hashtag, #HTTR, or “Hail to the Redskins.”
Also Read: Native Americans Take on Washington Redskins in Trailer for 'Imagining the Indian' Doc (Video)
“It’s clear to everyone that it’s money that’s talking,” West said. “The insistence on trying to incorporate red if possible is sort of emblematic of the same problem. They want to hold on to the #HTTR hashtag here. It’s again sort of marketing getting in the way of a real commitment to actually changing things here.”
The name Red Tails in particular could nod to the military and is a reference to the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American and Caribbean born soldiers and pilots who fought during World War II, but the “Imagining the Indian” filmmakers are skeptical of how much of an honor the name would be.
“I can’t believe that a lot of alumni, and I don’t think there’s that many left, or descendants of Tuskegee Airmen, would be in agreement with that name,” Kempner said. “The Tuskegee Airmen were a very courageous, brave group of men. But the reason they had to train separately and be separately was because of segregation. All the African American soldiers and in this case airmen went into a segregated armed forces. You can talk about Red Tails, and in a way it does honor the Tuskegee Airmen, but they came out of a very racist history of American history.”
West said the first problem with any team trying to “honor” another group of people is that it paints a limiting, romanticized or stereotypical view of that group.
“There is this position that sports fans take often that, ‘Hey, we’re trying to honor you. That’s what we’re doing, we’re trying to honor these characteristics, you’re a brave and you’re a warrior,'” West said. “That’s incredibly limiting to a group of people that are rich in depth and breadth and all sorts of characteristics to hone in on this one romanticized notion of Native Americans.
But more importantly, West questioned why any team would insist on using a mascot to honor a group of people when they are uncomfortable being used in that way. “If you think you’re honoring a group of people, and even a segment of that group of people don’t feel that they’re being honored and have an issue with it, what is your insistence on keeping that?” he said. “Why is it so important to the casual sports fan to continue offending a group of people in an attempt to honor them when they don’t feel they’re being honored?
West and Kempner along with the Ciesla Foundation, which has worked to erase the history of Native American names, logos and mascots from sports teams and beyond, say they’ll be turning some of their attention to the other remaining national teams that still boast Native team names or offensive celebrations at games, including the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks and the Golden State Warriors, which dropped its Native American mascot years ago.
But the documentary “Imagining the Indian,” which was presented to buyers as a work in progress and is aiming for completion by 2021, still holds relevance in how it examines the racist history of the team and the activism work that led to this landmark. And Kempner and West hope the film can be a teaching tool for younger generations as they call on local high schools or colleges that still cling to such problematic mascots.
“This story is not over yet,” West added. “Certainly the story of those who have been working on this or dedicated large chunks of their life to work on this, I don’t think a lot of people know. So the history behind the movement is still extremely important.”
Watch the trailer for “Imagining the Indian” below:
Cleveland Indians and 14 Other Sports Teams That Dumped Racist Names and Mascots (Photos)
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After years of protests over the Redskins name and logo, Washington's NFL team finally decided to make a change. But others have already made changes...
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When the Philadelphia Warriors basketball team moved to San Francisco in 1969, they decided to drop the Native American logo in favor of the locally known Golden Gate Bridge (but kept the name).
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Dickinson State University
Following student protests, North Dakota's Dickinson State University in 1972 dropped the Savages as the school's mascot. Two years later, they officially became the Blue Hawks.
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In 1974, Dartmouth College football team discontinued its old mascot the Indians -- which dated back to the 1920s -- and now go by the The Big Green.
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Eastern Washington University changed its name from the Savages to the Eagles in 1973 after a vote by the student body ruled that the mascot for the prior 52 years was no longer acceptable.
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The Eastern Michigan Hurons also changed its name to the Eagles in 1991 after the Michigan Department of Civil Rights released a report suggesting that all state schools discontinue racially-insensitive logos.
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In 1994, St. John's University in New York City changed its team name from the Redmen to The Red Storm, sporting a new horse logo replacing the cartoon logo of a Native American.
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Before becoming the Redhawks in 1997, Miami University of Ohio were known as the Redskins. The change was advocated by Dr. Myrtis Powell, who consulted the Oklahoma-based Miami tribe.
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Oklahoma City University changed its team name from the Chiefs to the Stars in 1999, having actually been nicknamed the Stars prior to 1944.
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In 2000, Nebraska Wesleyan University changed its mascot to the Prairie Wolf after representing the school as the Plainsmen since 1933.
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Having been originally known as the Maroons, Seattle University's mascot became the Chieftains in 1938 to honor the college's namesake, Chief Seattle, but became the Redhawks in 2000.
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Located in Wichita Falls, Texas, the Midwestern State University Indians became the Mustangs in 2006 to "eliminate the potential for a hostile or abusive environment," the school said.
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Erik Abderhalden/Creative Commons
In 2007, the University of Illinois dropped the Chief Illiniwek logo and mascot following two decades of complaints that the logo and the mascot's ceremonial dance performed during halftime perpetuated stereotypes. The use of the mascot dated back to 1926. The team is still called the Illini.
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Arkansas State University changed its mascot from the Indians to the Red Wolves in January 2008.
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The Cleveland Indians removed the Chief Wahoo logo from their uniforms and stadium signs following the 2018 season. The team still retains retail rights to the logo. Chief Wahoo had been in use by the Indians since 1947.
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In July 2020, the Washington Redskins announced it would retire its name and logo after FedEx, which has a minority stake in the team and naming rights for its stadium, voiced opposition.
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In December 2020, the Cleveland Indians decided to drop its team name -- and in July 2021 announced they'd be called Cleveland Guardians.
Cleveland’s baseball team is the latest to bow to public pressure over offensive names and logos
After years of protests over the Redskins name and logo, Washington's NFL team finally decided to make a change. But others have already made changes...
Brian Welk
Film Reporter • brian.welk@thewrap.com • Twitter: @brianwelk