Why Are Woke White Folks More Offended By Controversial Sports Names?

Because he has nothing else on his plate president Donald Trump has decided to revisit the Woke name change of the Washington NFL club from Redskins to Commanders and the Cleveland MLB name from Indians to Guardians. “The Washington ‘Whatever’s’ should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this… Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past.

"Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!”

If that wasn’t enough, Trump decided to leverage funding for a new stadium in DC. "I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington. The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone."

He received support from Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner, a former NFL player in Washington. "I played in the NFL and was drafted by the Washington Redskins. Not the ‘Washington Football Team’ or the ‘Commanders,’" he wrote on X. "@POTUS is right. It’s time to bring the Redskins’ name back.”

Before you do the tomahawk chop on POTUS 45/ 47, bear in mind that in a post-Stephen Colbert America the elites are on the run. Many people revere the Redskins nickname and the Cleveland Indians name as well. To say nothing of the Edmonton Eskimos fans who loathe the politically correct change to Elks. The name cult behind the Eskimos change is the same combination of today’s Indigenous activists, furious lefty politicians and media scolds like Bob Costas and Keith Olbermann. 

As we wrote in November of 2017, the entire change-the-name stunt was a fraud. “It would seem from reading media accounts that a vast movement of native Americans and Canadians is underway. Yet, what’s unique about this struggle is the almost total indifference for these virtuous pearl clutchers from the people most affected by the alleged abuse. Polling consistently demonstrates that, as tempests go, this one is predominantly hot air.

A 2004 poll showed that 90 percent of those native Americans polled did not object to the Redskins nickname. A 2016 Washington Post poll which duplicated the poll question asked in 2004, produced an identical result.

To be sure, there is a range of native symbols caught up in this debate. The Indians name, allegedly to honor native player Louis Soxalexis who played for Cleveland in the first decade of the twentieth century, might be fairly benign. The Cleveland logo, Chief Wahoo, is offensive of just about every level. ”

The general public is not gripped by the Redskins debate either. As journalist George Will reports, “A 2013 AP-GfK poll showed that 79 percent of Americans of all ethnicities opposed changing it, and just 18 percent of ‘nonwhite football fans’ favoured changing it.” National public opinion polls finds that a majority of the general public support the team's continued use of the name, ranging from 60 to 83 percent in recent years.

Those who object to the nicknames are no doubt sincere about their feelings, but as crusades go this one is several demonstrators shy of the Selma March of 1964. (Which never stops progressives seeking to educate the “deplorables” in American culture.) Sure enough, Canadian native activist Douglas Cardinal thought it was time to get his name in the media again. But his belated complaint was briskly shut down by a judge.

The Chicago Blackhawks name and logo seem to be respectful of the culture. The name was originally to honour not the native tribe itself but a branch of the U.S. military who used the nickname during WW I. In fact, natives often wear the Blackhawks logo themselves as cultural symbols. Ditto for the Braves’ name— although the fans’ war chant owes more to Hollywood than native culture. 

Because the Redskins play in the political fever swamp of Washington D.C. they have naturally received the most attention from activists and from media slavishly following the latest glittering progressive/ left object. Which allows people such as native activist Amanda Blackhorse, a Navajo, to proclaim, without facts, that “the majority of Native American people who have spoken out on this” want the name Redskins banned. And not get laughed into the Potomac.

Other zealots prefer a more hands-on approach to convincing natives how badly they’re served by these nicknames.  Folks such as Costas are free to use their platforms to make their feelings known. Which is their right. But it doesn’t mean that they’re aided by the facts.

As happened when Colin Kaepernick jumped on Black Lives Matter propaganda saying that blacks were being disproportionately targeted by police, the media have leapt in feet first to promote the right to his First Amendment rights while ignoring his data. BTW: The high school football team at Miss Blackhorse’s reservation New Mexico? The Redskins.

All of which begs the question: If so many of those affected by this supposed insult don’t see it as an insult… then who is the progressive culture industry doing it for?  I’ll take your answer off-air.”

Now, in Trump’s 2025, we may finally get an answer as to who calls the shots in pro sports. Using stadium financing to restore the Redskins name might be the answer.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.