Abstract
Since its creation more than 80 years ago, the Washington Redskins football team continues to attract debate and criticism regarding its name and logo. King’s (2016), Redskins: Insult and Brand explores the growing opposition surrounding the team name and brand, situating the team moniker and logo as a form of anti-Indian racism.
This book is explicit in its stance against the team name and logo from the beginning, as illustrated by its cover. On the cover, various racial slurs are displayed with all but “redskins” crossed out in what appears to be black marker. What is left visible to the reader is what is left contested in this text—the term “redskins.” King emphasizes throughout the book that this term is more than just a word and that it is a racial slur, due to its painful history and association with the colonization of Native Americans. This book highlights the problematic usage, celebration, and commercialization of this term in the media and in sport. Due to its offensive and negative connotation, King avoids using the word in his book, except in direct quotes, preferring instead to replace it with “r*dskin(s)” (p. xiii).
C. Richard King is a professor at Washington State University with over two decades of experience studying the subject of Native American mascots. In this book, he unpacks the history of this football team, the origins of the word r*dskin, and arguments surrounding the team name. King reminds readers that the team name was not intended to honor and respect Native Americans as is commonly claimed, but was instead selected to prevent confusion with a Boston baseball team when the team’s name was changed from the Boston Braves to the Boston Redskins in 1933. According to King, this change coincided with the hiring of a new coach for this team William Henry Dietz, who falsely claimed to have Lakota heritage. Despite arguments that the name was changed to honor its new “Native American” coach, this book reveals that the franchise did not change the team name to R*dskins to honor its new coach, but rather did so as a strategic marketing tool.
His examination of the issue of the team name goes beyond the field of sport to include a broader analysis of systems of oppression and a history of colonization experienced by Native Americans. King states, “Of course, one cannot speak of settler colonialism, prevailing understandings of race and racism, or the team and its traditions without talking about the construction of whiteness” (p. 8). He employs critical theoretical perspectives to deconstruct arguments in support of the team to reveal how they are testament of the extent of white entitlement of Native American culture, ideals, stereotypes, and logos. King notes that arguments in support of the team name do not take into account the harm that the word r*dskin has on Native Americans, but rather are centralized around “whites and whiteness, and display deep-seated resentments about a changing world as much as they purport to pay homage and convey respect” (p. 9). He uses the word “thoughtlessness” (p. 39) to describe how supporters of the team name disregard or are ignorant of the painful history associated with the term r*dskin. It is this history that King explores as he critiques popular assumptions held by the franchise and its fans to uncover ideologies that have silenced Native American voices opposed to the team name.
By pretending to be “warriors, chiefs, and braves,” King describes how White males perform and re-invent images, symbols, and stereotypes of Native Americans to suit their desires for a more authentic manhood (p. 33). It is through this process that sport provides an avenue for fans and the sport franchise to engage in the act of possessing, fabricating, and romanticizing, aspects of Native American culture and identity to suit their own needs. This book details how sport is used to sustain images, symbols, logos, and stereotypes of Native Americans and how this encourages anti-Indian racism and the dehumanization of Native Americans rather than respect for them. Indeed, in King’s own words, “[w]herever the word originated and whenever it became a slur precisely, sport kept the word alive” (p. 20). King dissects the contradiction that exists within sport and society, as the term r*dskin is celebrated in one context and denounced as a racial slur in the latter. Ultimately, this book highlights the racial inequality experienced by Native Americans in the USA, with continued usage of the term redskin as evidence of this reality.
A criticism of the book is that it focuses primarily on White fans and the franchise, but it does not take into account the diverse fan base of this team and what their motivations may be in supporting the Washington football team. This is problematic since football has a strong fan base that is not restricted by boundaries of whiteness and masculinity. This book although very detailed in historical origins of the team name is also repetitive, as the author repeats details of the history of the team.
Despite the controversial and sensitive nature of this book, King integrates examples of hope, resilience, and resistance as expressed by former fans and Native American activists and allies in their fight to stop the usage of the team name once and for all. He displays an optimistic tone and provides options for a rebranding or a change of the team name and logo. This leaves the reader wondering what the change will be and how will it be enforced. Although King’s book reveals the financial rewards of keeping the team name, it also identifies the costs associated with doing so through the damage caused by anti-Indian racism in sport. The book ends with King’s suggestions on how to combat the anti-Indian racism encouraged by the team name and offers points on how to “rethink,” “rename,” and “replace” the brand (p. 162). It is an insightful resource for sports fans, sociologists, and critical sport researchers looking to examine arguments in opposition to the team name further.