[Chedapalooza]

Quote: Originally Posted by tebowtime1987

Sorry for the double post! Accidentally hit submit before I typed my message. I ask because I myself am Native, my wife is Native, and well obviously my children are Native. Since I was a young child my grand parents and parents taught me about the origins of the name "Redskin" -- It was actually created by my ancestors, the Illinois - a tribe in a place called "Illinois Country". We wanted to distinguish ourselves from Europeans. They were "white", some were "brown" and we became "red" but the first translations were Illinois->French, so it became "redflesh" or "redskin". I just wanted to reply that some of us Natives take pride in who we are and our heritage. Our tribal lands are very, very poor. Most of us are well below poverty and suffer from substance abuse. There are very little Native politicians, athletes, and heroes -- our heroes are from stories our grandparents tell us. The Washington Redskins is the same as saying "Washington Native Americans" and my family and friends grew up with this being our favorite team because it represented our peoples. Sports teams with tribal names are really all us poor Natives have to look up to in professional sports and we take a lot of pride in these names. It is very offensive that you call it "racial slurs" to me, my wife, my children, my family, and my friends. It degrades our history's and assumes that us Natives are too stupid to decide what is offensive or not, so we need non-tribesmen to tell us. Though to be fair, I am assuming you're not a Native and I apologize for this assumption if I am incorrect. Thanks for the replies though. I enjoy following your season. GL in the Championship game! Hope this doesn't offend you. I've been lurking these forums for a long time and your post hurt me a little so though I would reply.

Definitely enjoyed reading this. Thank you for sharing