The name of a certain pro football team in Washington, D.C., has inspired protests, hearings, editorials, lawsuits, letters from Congress, even a presidential nudge. Yet behind the headlines, it's unclear how many Native Americans think "Redskins" is a racial slur.
Perhaps this uncertainty shouldn't matter — because the word has an undeniably racist history, or because the team says it uses the word with respect, or because in a truly decent society, some would argue, what hurts a few should be avoided by all.
But the thoughts and beliefs of native people are the basis of the debate over changing the team name. And looking across the breadth of Indian Country — with 2 million Indians enrolled in 566 federally recognized tribes, plus another 3.2 million who tell the Census they are Indian — it's difficult to tell how many are opposed to the name.
The controversy has peaked in the last few days. President Barack Obama said Saturday he would consider getting rid of the name if he owned the team, and the NFL took the unprecedented step Monday of promising to meet with the Oneida Indian Nation, which is waging a national ad campaign against the league.
What gets far less attention, though, is this article, posted 6 days ago. (click link for full article)
<a class="postlink" href="http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/indians-redskins-slur-20505945" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/ ... r-20505945</a>
There are Native American schools that call their teams Redskins. The term is used affectionately by some natives, similar to the way the N-word is used by some African-Americans. In the only recent poll to ask native people about the subject, 90 percent of respondents did not consider the term offensive, although many question the cultural credentials of the respondents.
All of which underscores the oft-overlooked diversity within Indian Country.
"Marginalized communities are too often treated monolithically," said Carter Meland, a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota.
"Stories on the mascot issue always end up exploring whether it is right or it is wrong, respectful or disrespectful," said Meland, an Ojibwe Indian.
He believes Indian mascots are disrespectful, but said: "It would be interesting to get a sense of the diversity of opinion within a native community."
Those communities vary widely.