With the continuing controversysurrounding the name of the Washington Redskins, it is important thatthe American people consider the concern surrounding controversialnames to the utmost extent. With that being said, here is a list ofother teams that should consider changing their names due to theimpact that their names are having on an exceptionally small number of people despitea lack of significant support.
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings were a population notoriousfor raping and pillaging towns, killing women or children, and takingslaves to help row their boats and maintain their lifestyle. TheseNorse savages often attacked and destroyed monasteries because themonasteries opposed the Norse beliefs and were viewed as easy targetsfor theft and plunder. The Vikings were responsible for asignificant amount of death historically, believed to have killeduncountable multitudes of many people’s ancestry tree.
Cleveland Indians
Chief Wahoo hasbeen a point of conflict for some time albeit less so than the mascot ofthe Washington Redskins, largely because of the size of the Chief’spockets. While the Indians have started using a boxed “C” ontheir ball caps rather than Chief Wahoo, Cleveland Indians PresidentMark Shapiro told ESPN back in April that “Chief Wahoo isn’tgoing anywhere.”
Chicago Fire
It seems obvious that a fire thatkilled more than 300 people in Chicago and left more than 100,000homeless would not be celebrated by a city that has had such anextensive history of crime and corruption. Undeniably there arestill people living in the city who had family members who werekilled in the Great Fire of 1871 and to have a team named after atragedy in the city is a slap in the face to those individuals whomay have thought about their lost extended family members…once.
Any team with King, Royals, or otherglamorous title
This one isn’t actually a specificteam but it seems that those who are not in a position of greatwealth or royalty would surely be offended by the names of theseteams. Whether talking about the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, the AHL’sManchester Monarchs, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, or even theOttawa Senators of the NHL, the lower- and mid-classes are likelyoutraged by such a name and will be demanding their changes shortly.
New York Yankees
There are two interpretations of whatis meant when a person is considered a yankee. The most common formost people from the southern states refers to the North during theCivil War. According to the Civil War Trust, more than 258,000confederate soldiers lost their lives in an effort, according tohistorians, to defend their land, their way of life, as well as, yes,slave ownership. While slave ownership is indefensible, thecontinued celebration of the moniker by a professional baseball teamgenerates some questions of class some 148 years after the end of thewar.
Oakland Athletics
In a generation where obesity is out ofcontrol, and it is considered bullying to point out body compositionof another individual in school, to have a professional baseball teamnamed the Oakland Athletics should be considered offensive to themajority of the population. Alameda County, where Oakland resides,has an adult obesity rate of 19.3% and a preschool obesity rate of16.6%. These numbers far exceed the 0.9% of the populationrepresented by American Indians and Alaska Natives, according to theU.S. Census Bureau. Instead, in order to be more inclusive, Oaklandshould change their name to the Oakland Averages or the OaklandChubby-at-Bests.
What other teams have names that may beconsidered offensive to small portions of the Nation’s population?