They’re not racist, they’re just oblivious! The Daily Show confronted the fanatical advocates of a racist slur with Indian activists…and didn’t change anyone’s minds. I still think they’re freakin’ racists.
You want more nuance? Read the behind-the-scenes account by one of the activists.
The next morning, football Sunday, the three of us went to FedEx Field as part of the show. “The Daily Show” taped us wandering around the “Redskins Nation” tailgate, though that never made it on air. I, rather naively, thought maybe we’d be able use our presence at the tailgate as a way to showcase our humanity, and let the Washington Team know that there are Native Americans out there who are among them—real people not relegated to the eternal myth of history. Maybe we’d change a mind or two. Or, at least, maybe some ignorant hilarity could be caught on camera. It was worth a try, so with a camera crew following us, one little, two little and a third big Indian struck out into FedEx Field’s Redskin Nation tailgate.
That did not go as I’d hoped.
There were points during that hour-long experience where I actually was afraid for my life. I have never been so blatantly threatened, mocked or jeered. It was so intense, so full of vitriol that none of the footage ended up being used in the segment. I’m a big dude—6’1”, and a lotta meat on the bones. But a blonde little wisp of a girl completely freaked me out as I waited in line for the bathroom. “Is that shirt supposed to be funny?” she asked motioning to my satirical “Caucasians” T-shirt. And then she said, “I’ll fucking cut you.” Actually, she didn’t scare me so much as the wannabe linebackers standing behind her who looked like they wanted to make good on her threat.
On one level, I get it. I’m walking around with an ironic T-shirt on, being a Native in the middle of FedEx Field with a camera crew from “The Daily Show” nearby. But amid the jeers, mocking and threats, did I cry, and accuse them of ambush? No, because I knew what I was getting myself into. It’s “The Daily Show.” I know the format. More than that though, I didn’t back down or break down because I knew in my heart and conscience I was doing the right thing, as silly as the method may have been.
I think back to the tailgate: the man blowing cigar smoke in my face, the man who mockingly yelled, “Thanks for letting us use your name!”, the group who yelled at us to “go the fuck home,” the little waif who threatened to cut me, the dude who blew the train horn on his truck as I walked by the hood. I think of all of that, and I think back to O’Dell crying and trying desperately to get out of the room full of calm Natives. I thought she was crying because she was caught unawares and was afraid. But I realized that was her defense mechanism, and that by overly dramatizing her experience, she continued to trivialize ours. It was privilege in action. And as I realized these things, something else became incredibly clear: She knew she was wrong.
Man, that’s fucked up.
The segment ended up being very tame, considering everything that actually happened.
I loved how all of them said they’d still root for Washington if they had a new name. Even the guy who said he’d keep all his “Redskins” stuff up in his house, said he would.
So change the fucking name already.
What really bugged me is that every one of those idiot fans claimed to be part Cherokee (Why is it always Cherokee?).
There was a comment made that everyone always claims that.
In my case, it’s true. My mother was able to register as half Cherokee because of her father. I was not raised as a native American, so I therefore don’t have a real understanding of the challenges that those who grew up on reservations have faced.
However, I would like to tell those “fans” to their faces that I don’t appreciate them denigrating my heritage or the memory of my grandfather and his people. They are freakin’ racists!
magistramarla #3
Is that the “I’m not racist; some of me is black” defense?
What I found strange was the claim of being 1/12 Cherokee. That fraction makes no sense. Maybe confusion or approximation (1/16 + 1/64 ≈ 1/12).
The reason they all claim to be ‘registered Cherokee’ is due in part to the sheer number of fake ‘Cherokee’ organizations that will register based on a verbal claim and an ‘investigation fee’ that mysteriously always manages to investigate and find out that your ancestor really was Cherokee.
It’s particularly common in Georgia, where the requirements for being a ‘state recognized’ tribe were lax to the point of nonexistence. But it’s not uncommon in other states.
The one out in Oklahoma even investigated and verified that my great grandpappy IronEye was a full blooded Cherokee. Which was mighty impressive, considering my great grandpappy’s real name was Miroslav and he was born, raised, and buried in the Ukraine.
Wow. That passage was fucking powerful. Gave me chills. I am disappointed in The Daily Show here. They played it safe and light hearted when seeing active, blatant, venomous bigotry at work right before their eyes.
that’s actually not transferable like that. you see, you can be white and have a NDN grandmother; but if you have a black grandmother, you’re black, so no one claims imaginary black grandmothers.
anti-indigenous racism is made for extermination, so you lose your nativeness with the slightest white-admixture (or cultural alienation). anti-black racism is made for the slave trade and other labor exploitation, so blackness is determined by the one-drop-rule.
[/short lesson in the social construction of race in colonial contexts]
firstapproximation:
It is possible to be 1/12 Cherokee. Two different ancestors could have different fractions of Cherokee blood. e.g. one parent with 1/8, and the other with 1/16. With those particular [relatively ‘large’] fractions, she may even be able to document it. I have worked on my own genealogy and I have learned that when you claim smaller fractions of Native blood (i.e. further back in time) the ability to find verifiable documentation gets a lot tougher. Still, somehow she seems blissfully ignorant.
My great great grandparents of Scandinavian roots once owned a large tract of land in east central Minnesota. That’s the same land that was previously occupied alternately by Ojibwa and Dakota Sioux. Now, I’m not claiming to be descended from either tribe, but I could be. Who really knows? I might be 1/2^n, n > 4 of one tribe or the other. The only people that can dispute me are those whose exponent of heritage n <= 4.
I wonder how many other white kids like me were told that they're 1/16th of whatever is most convenient and affirming. The answer appears to be "all of them."
(OT: @PZ: Why not can we use the <sup> tag?)
I’m descended from the Plymouth Plantation settlers, who had to intermarry with Native Americans for a bit in the beginning because they were so incompetent at surviving.
So yeah, I’m totally part Indian.
Nevermind that, once their population had been re-established at survival levels, the settlers then embarked on a concerted campaign of re-white-ifying their community by banning further intermarriage and breeding out any visual reminder of that time.
Ugh.
White people.
When they do change the name, Snyder is going to wonder why he didn’t do so sooner – as he takes in the windfall of people buying Redskins merchandise on clearance *and* that of people lining up to buy the near gear.
Maybe her parents were half-siblings and she mistakenly assigned equal weight to all great-great-grandparents.
@ 13 no doubt
well it seems to be working so far going by the parking lot tail gaiters. when the sales start to flag there will be some other big deal then a name change that might be dragged out a little then all new gear with some additional per-motions $$$$$!
foot ball is all about $$$$
uncle frogy
Snidely W,
Except you can’t get 1/12 from adding a finite number of inverse powers of two. The sum’s denominator would be a power of two (when in lowest terms). 12 isn’t a power of two. Another way of saying this is that one twelfth doesn’t terminate in binary.
Funny enough, when I saw that this clip I thought of Michael Scott from The Office claiming to be “two fifteenths” Native American.
Note: let’s ignore for the time being whether the whole notion of being 1/2^n of group X because of an nth generational ancestor makes any sense.
I’m glad someone else mentioned the 1/12th bit, because that just struck me as odd. I’m sure if you allow for nearly infinite generations of ancestors of your ethnicity choice, you can hit something approximating 1/12, but considering how long europeans have been in the Americas, it still strikes me as rather unlikely.
On another note, even my ignorant, sexist, possibly slightly racist younger self recognized the problems with team names/mascots like the washington redskins and cleveland indians. How the fuck can a grown-ass adult who ties their own damned shoes and operates a cell phone not see that?
firstapproximation:
You’re right. My bad, totally.
I blame it on doing too-quick, bleary-brained math while listening to the rest of the segment.
And to follow on what you say:
1/12 = 8.33 %
171/2056 = 8.32%
Maybe that’s what she meant.
:-)
FOD (NSFW):
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/5bf96bb034/official-redskins-name-change
The latest South Park episode (s18e01) is all about the Washington team name but, as always, turning the situation upside-down…
http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s18e01-go-fund-yourself
(I think this can only be watched from the US)
For those who can’t see it, The Boys actually start using the “Washington Redskins” name and logo after the trademark had been dumped and the team —and Snider— complain that they’re robbing them of their identity and making fools of them etc.
I’ve been following that whole thing – the woman said she was “defamed” and felt “victimized”, that guy said “he wouldn’t have worn his Redskins jacket” if he knew he would come face to face with Indians (what, he thinks they don’t exist in the actual world?). I’m glad they ran it, and I’m really glad they ran it with that disclaimer at the beginning indicating that it wasn’t a misrepresentation, but I wish they hadn’t pulled back and not shown any of the statements that went back and forth between the two groups.
And if anyone doesn’t know, several of the Indian activists were members of the 1491s, a comedy/activist group.
What struck me in this segment of Daily Show:
That guy in the tailgate party; all decked out with feather bonnet, and on a scooter, claiming to be “Native American” cuz “I was born right here in the U S of A [gotcha]” He was not just “claiming” it, but loudly proclaiming it to be WRONG for “those people” to be called that.
And that interviewee who was tacitly fearful that if the name was changed then all his “souvenirs” would be illegal. “I’m gonna keep all this stuff on my walls, regardless…”
I’m laughing so hard!
“This video is private.”
o_O
Watching those 4 lamenting the possible loss of the name; struck me as a consequence of us calling the current name “<strikeRacist Culturally Insensitive“; putting them into that emotionally defensive mode. I wonder, would they be so upset and defensive if the owner of the team just simply announced a name change, with no rationalizations. Just a blatant show of power: “The team will now take the name Grizzly Bears!! Grizzlies are the most powerful bears so all future games will be ours!!” We’re spending too much energy trying to “guilt” all the fans for liking the team with the “Insensitive” name. Let them show how much they really love the TEAM, and just change the name, for no reasons, justifications, rationalizations, etc. Maybe then they’ll accept it, without all that “guilt” in the way.
edit@24:
…current name “
RacistCulturally Insensitive“; putting …Yes, and the CBC just ran an article asking if the Daily Show went too far. Ummm, no.
And as I said in the Lounge, it shouldn’t even be under question. Calling out entrenched racism of native peoples? You should be on top of that, CBC.
One of the funny things about the Cherokee ancestry myth (and it is by and large a myth throughout the south, believed by both blacks and whites) is that the source of their Cherokee ancestry was always female, never male. A white woman is defiled by having sex with a Native man, but a Native woman is redeemed by having sex with a white male.
(Irony alert: I recently found out that my mother had two children in Germany who were put up for adoption before she married my dad and I was born. I met my German half-sister for the first time last year and it turns out that she is half-Native American – her and her brother’s father was a more-or-less full-blooded member of the Saginaw band of Ojibwe.)
rq #26:
I’m pleased, though, that the (unscientific) poll is sitting at 88%+ supporting TDS.
I posted this comment before on Dispatches from the Culture Wars the last time Ed had a post about Washington’s football team name and wanted to post it here again in the hopes that it will help when talking to a family member or friend who may be ignorant as to why the name is offensive.
Some of the comments from that discussion talked about some of my points above being akin to a “hecklers veto”. But a response to that, and one I agree with, was from a comment a first nations person wrote on another website (don’t remember which one so I don’t have a link) in response to Red Mesa High Redskins in Arizona having their nickname as the R-word, it should be up to Native Americans if they want to use the name and re-appropriate the word.
I should have also had on the list that it is wrong to reduce a groups culture to a stereotype (the noble savage warrior) and a caricature .
Finally, thanks to all the first nations people here that have written about their experiences and feeling regarding the misappropriation of Native American culture, I have learned a lot.
Cliff@27
LOL Your comment made me remember the conversations that I heard in my own family.
My grandfather was a coal miner and part-time farm worker in Illinois at around the turn of the last century – sort of a migrant worker of his day. Word in the family was that his parents had escaped from the Trail of Tears before reaching Oklahoma and had traveled up the Mississippi to Illinois.
My grandmother was the daughter of one of those farmers who had hired the strong young Native American man to work in the orchards picking fruit. Somehow he managed to elope with the farmer’s daughter! According to what I heard from my great-aunts, this caused quite an upset in the family and the community.
Everyone must have settled down, since my grandparents went on to have eight children together, including my mother. She registered as a Native American back in the early 60s, long before those registration scams came on the scene. She would never talk about it, but according to my father, it was a long, drawn-out process back then.
Boycott the entire so-called “sport” of gridiron. Not just the racist bigots in Washingloonytoons, but, e.g., the local high school — Your daugher, son, and you don’t want anything to do with a “sport” that encourages rape, bigotry, and brain injury.
Donate your money, time, and energies to something which is not demeaning to the majority of the planet.
jrfdeux @29
Ah, that is encouraging, at least! Better if the CBC itself had immediately taken a stance, but go readers in unscientific poll.
(This computer at work wouldn’t let me view the results.)
David – the link didn’t work for you? It’s not to a video, it’s to their website. Try typing in 1491s.com
If you think this is bad, tune in to the ‘Zwarte Piet’-discussion in the Netherlands. People refuse to see that a blatantly racist caricature is being used for a children’s holiday.
Cue lots of “I’m not racist and if you don’t like it, go back to your own country”.
SQB:
I find that milder than “Oh, I thought all Indians were dead. You should be” and “What are you Indians whining for, you’re cleaning up with those casinos”, but I guess that’s what you get when someone can’t say “go back to your own country”.
@Iyéska, I think the insults and threats probably amount to the same. It’s just that at least half my country sees nothing wrong with Zwarte Piet and a good part of that is angry with the ‘guests’ (never mind they’re born here and are as Dutch as I am) who dare to complain about ‘their’ tradition.
Also, since it’s a children’s holiday, won’t somebody think of the children?
parasiteboy @29
As a fan of Washington I will second that the name needs to be changed, but with the a buffoon like Daniel Snyder as owner, I’m sure this will be a fight to the end.
Deciding which professional team to be a fan of seems a rather arbitrary choice, why choose the one with the racist name? Even if you live in DC, Baltimore isn’t that far away for an alternate local team.
Jadehawk #8
Huh, that’s a really good observation. I never thought about that. It’s like how people consider Obama just black.
And in the cases that it did happen, it was most likely a case of rape.
I remembered another reason I changed my point of view that I should have added @29. How many Native American groups have spoken out in favor of Washington keeping their name? None that I know of, there may be individual Native Americans who say they do not find it offensive, but I don’t even see them actively campaigning to keep the name.
At the top of their website is a rotation of 5 videos; below that, there’s the Oscar Wilde quote, and the rest of the page apparently didn’t load for me last time. Now it all works, thanks!
parasiteboy:
A majority of Indians live on a rez, and there tend to be concerns which are much more serious, so those get attention. Rez life is very isolated from outside life, too. This should help explain various reactions within Indian Nations.
Also, AIM has not ignored this issue, and started R Day.
(The first video is still private, but now that’s only shown when you click on it. I just watched the others!)
From there:
I recommend the rest of the article as well. And Halbritter, “half-knight”, is a great name for a politician.
Unsurprisingly, it turns out that the Washington Bonercats have
Iyéska, mal omnifarious@43
I should have been a bit clearer in my thoughts. I know that there are several Native American organizations that are actively campaigning against the use of the R-word, but I don’t know of any that are actively working to help team keep the name by changing public opinion.
I’ve also read the article that you linked to and I was not talking about the indifference of people on the rez that have other things to worry about. I was thinking of the few people who have claimed to be Native Americans and made public statements that they are not offended by the word. Beyond the onetime statement, I haven’t seen them actively campaigning for the team to keep the name.
From Indian Country Today Media Network: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Airs R-Word Segment, Debunks WashPo Report
Obviously, there are a number of other articles at that site on the subject.
–
Did someone really, unironically, tell a Native American to ‘go home’?