Bad Names

 

   Last week the Cleveland Indians changed their name to the Cleveland Guardians. The name is taken from the Guardians of Traffic statue on a bridge near the park where the team plays. Sport teams in the United States have been slowly ridding themselves of names deemed to be offensive. 

   I first noticed this many years ago when a controversy arose over the name of the University of North Dakota teams. Since UND was the main rival to North Dakota State University, my alma mater, I paid attention. 

   I had always known the team as The Fighting Sioux. In 2005 the NCAA and several Native American groups had deemed the nickname to be offensive. Supporters, of course, claimed that the nickname was a source of pride and was not demeaning. This controversy split the UND community with many supporting the name change and others opposing it. In a nutshell, UND was required to get the permission of local Sioux tribes in order to continue use of the name. When that didn't happen, UND was required to stop using the nickname. A new name, The Fighting Hawks, was chosen in 2015. (for more details see Wikipedia article see North Dakota Fighting Sioux Controversy) The name Sioux, by the way means little snakes. I wouldn't consider this a compliment.

   Of course the renaming of teams is considered by many to be another example of the far left imposing their will on everyone. After all team names are given to show strength and power. Calling teams Braves, Indians, Redskins and Chiefs is an honor. It's not meant to be an insult. I would agree on this. When these nickname were chosen, they were not chosen with the intent to insult. 

   These names can, however, continue a stereotype which is insulting and demeaning. They can also be seen as not being respectful of a minority culture.

   I can say this from a bit of experience. When I was going to college, there was a town south of Fargo whose team name was the Wops. Wop stands for without papers and is a derogatory name for those of Italian descent. Now, to be fair, the name was a shortened version of the name of the town, Wahpeton.  Regardless, I found it to be an offensive name. I have heard many stories of Italian immigrants  experiencing discrimination. in fact my mother recently told me that as a girl she was told not to tell anyone she was Italian, due to the poor way Italians were treated.  (She was born in the United States.) (I'm not sure how effective this was when you have clear ethnic features and your last name ends in a vowel, there's really no ability to hide.)

   There weren't any sports teams called the micks, krauts, coolie, frogs or spics. No one would do that, because it's offensive. Apparently, wop isn't offensive.

   Last week when I heard about the Cleveland name change, I looked up the Wops. I found out that the name had been changed to the Huskies. This made me happy. It's a step in the right direction,

   Go Huskies!