Berkeley Study Claims ‘Redskins’ Name More Offensive Than Previously Thought

A new survey by leftist university Berkeley claims that the name “Redskins” is even more “offensive” to Native Americans than a previous study found.

“Contrary to polls showing that relatively few Native Americans take offense at the Washington Redskins’ name, a new UC Berkeley study has found that at least half of more than 1,000 Native Americans surveyed are offended by the football team’s 87-year-old moniker and Native mascots in general,” the Berkeley News exclaimed.

This study, set to be published in the Journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science sometime this month, claims that Native Americans who are serious about their heritage are offended by the name.

The study purports to find that 57 percent of Native Americans who “strongly identify with being Native American” don’t like the name of Washington D.C.’s NFL team, and 67 percent of those who “frequently engage in tribal cultural practice” are offended by the name. The study claims that these people are “deeply insulted by caricatures of Native American culture.”

Indian activist group, Change the Mascot, has seized upon this new study that supports their position as evidence that their demands that the Redskins dump their name is the correct decision.

“Having long called attention to the deeply offensive use and lasting psychological impacts stemming from the NFL’s use of a dictionary-defined slur for Native Americans, we are now urging the Washington team and NFL officials to take our collective voices seriously and finally change the mascot,” Indian activist and Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter said in a statement. “Native Americans from across the country have been calling for the eradication of the racist and hurtful R-word epithet. And while we are pleased to see prestigious universities devote their attention to the issue, it should not require academic studies to validate appeals by people of color for decency and respect.”

The latest study is a far different than that published in 2016 by the Washington Post which found that 90 percent of Native America respondents were not bothered by the name at all.

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