I know that everyone here loves the NFL and the Minnesota Viking so this isn't news to anyone here (right? 
) but there my Minnesota Vikings are playing the Washington Redskins today.
Now this isn't the strange part though. Minnesota has a HUGE native american presence and therefore, this happened:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-minnesota-native-americans-march-rally-to-protest-redskins-name/2014/11/02/fc38b8d0-6299-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html
Basically, thousands of people showed up before the game to protest the name because there are some who believe that the name "Redskins" is a racist term that should not be used for a football team.
However, the opinion between Native Americans also seems to be split. For example, the Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly was in the owners suit with the Dan Snyder (the Redskins owner) last week to watch the Redskins play the Cowboys.
I'm curious what other people think about this. Is Redskins a term that is wrong and shouldn't be used? Do you think it's wrong but the Redskins shouldn't be forced to change their name against their will? Do you not see what the big deal is and it's just the PC police running wild?
What are others opinions?
) but there my Minnesota Vikings are playing the Washington Redskins today.Now this isn't the strange part though. Minnesota has a HUGE native american presence and therefore, this happened:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-minnesota-native-americans-march-rally-to-protest-redskins-name/2014/11/02/fc38b8d0-6299-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html
MINNEAPOLIS ? Thousands of Native Americans carrying signs, banging drums and chanting ?Who are we? Not your mascot!? converged on the University of Minnesota?s TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday in one of the largest protests in years against the name of the Washington Redskins.
Native Americans, students and other activists staged two large, noisy but peaceful marches to the stadium, where the Redskins are facing the Minnesota Vikings. At the stadium, they were joined by hundreds of other protesters. Minneapolis police put the estimated crowd at 3,200, though it continued to grow as the rally on the south side of the stadium got underway.
The demonstrators were surrounded by banners that read ?Change the Name Now? and ?Stop Racism in the NFL.? One woman brandished a sign that read, ?My Hubby Did Not Fight in Iraq To Be Called A ?Redskin.? ?
Darcie Big Bear, 34, an Ojibwe from Mille Lacs, Minn., had driven two hours to be among the throng. She was wearing a T-shirt that simply read, ?RENAME.?
She and other protesters consider the Redskins moniker a deeply offensive racial slur, while team owner Daniel Snyder argues that it honors Native Americans and has vowed never to change it.
Big Bear called the name ?derogatory toward our people? and said the resistance to changing it is ?ignorance, pure ignorance. They don?t take the time to see how it affects our people.?
Preparations for the protest have been underway for months. A Facebook page ? #NotYourMascot Global Convergence, Rally & March ? indicated that 13,000 people had been invited to the protest.
In 1992, when the Buffalo Bills played Washington in the only Super Bowl hosted in Minnesota, an estimated 3,000 demonstrators turned out at the now-demolished Metrodome to denounce the Redskins name.
Last November, when the Vikings hosted the Redskins for the first time since 2007 at the Metrodome, more than 700 people protested outside. But the debate about the name has grown much more intense over the past year, with a parade of Native American leaders, lawmakers, civil rights activists and sports commentators condemning it.
?We are here to tell the NFL there is no honor in a racial slur,? Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) told the demonstrators. ?Here in Minnesota we have 11 proud tribal nations, but only 150 years ago, their ancestors, men and women, elders and children, were hunted and murdered for profit. This was a government-funded policy of genocide. The pain of this brutal and shameful history is still with us.?
?If there is any decency in the NFL, the time is now ? change the mascot.?
But some fans were dismissive as they passed the rally on their way into the stadium.
Vikings fan Larry Gibson, 54, a factory worker from St. Paul, paused to watch and expressed his disgust to a Redskins fan beside him.
?It could be the Vikings next, who knows?? Gibson said.
Tony Cansler, who was wearing a custom Redskins jersey along with a Redskins hat, ear muffs and mittens, shook his head. ?I mean, how far do you go with this, you know?? he replied.
Cansler, a 53-year-old maintenance worker, had driven six hours from his home in Iowa to watch his beloved Redskins play. He doesn?t think the majority of Native Americans have a problem with the team?s moniker or logo.
?To me the name is respectful,? he said. ?They should take pride in the name.?
Controversy has swirled around the Vikings game since August because of demands by the University of Minnesota to limit use of the team name and logo inside the stadium.
School officials insisted that they cannot dictate behavior to the Vikings organization, which is paying the university $300,000 a game to use the stadium while its new facility in Minneapolis is being built.
One of the protest?s organizers said he does not believe the demonstration will spill into the stadium or affect the game.
?We don?t look to have any kind of disturbance. If it happens, it won?t be because of the coalition,? said David Glass, president of the Minneapolis-based National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media.
Unlike many NFL cities where Native Americans have little presence, their influence in the Twin Cities ? and throughout Minnesota ? is robust.
TCF Bank Stadium was built with the help of a $10 million donation from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. At the time, it was largest private gift to Gophers athletics. The stadium features a plaza that honors Minnesota?s 11 federally recognized tribes.
More than 1,100 students throughout the University of Minnesota system identify themselves as Native Americans. The school has an American Indian Student Cultural Center and a Department of American Indian Studies. According to its Web site, the university has produced more Native American physicians than any other medical school in the country but one.
More than a decade ago, well before the NCAA restricted use of ethnic mascots and nicknames, the university adopted a policy requiring its athletic department to ?make every effort to avoid scheduling home events with schools that use Native American mascots.?
Native Americans, students and other activists staged two large, noisy but peaceful marches to the stadium, where the Redskins are facing the Minnesota Vikings. At the stadium, they were joined by hundreds of other protesters. Minneapolis police put the estimated crowd at 3,200, though it continued to grow as the rally on the south side of the stadium got underway.
The demonstrators were surrounded by banners that read ?Change the Name Now? and ?Stop Racism in the NFL.? One woman brandished a sign that read, ?My Hubby Did Not Fight in Iraq To Be Called A ?Redskin.? ?
Darcie Big Bear, 34, an Ojibwe from Mille Lacs, Minn., had driven two hours to be among the throng. She was wearing a T-shirt that simply read, ?RENAME.?
She and other protesters consider the Redskins moniker a deeply offensive racial slur, while team owner Daniel Snyder argues that it honors Native Americans and has vowed never to change it.
Big Bear called the name ?derogatory toward our people? and said the resistance to changing it is ?ignorance, pure ignorance. They don?t take the time to see how it affects our people.?
Preparations for the protest have been underway for months. A Facebook page ? #NotYourMascot Global Convergence, Rally & March ? indicated that 13,000 people had been invited to the protest.
In 1992, when the Buffalo Bills played Washington in the only Super Bowl hosted in Minnesota, an estimated 3,000 demonstrators turned out at the now-demolished Metrodome to denounce the Redskins name.
Last November, when the Vikings hosted the Redskins for the first time since 2007 at the Metrodome, more than 700 people protested outside. But the debate about the name has grown much more intense over the past year, with a parade of Native American leaders, lawmakers, civil rights activists and sports commentators condemning it.
?We are here to tell the NFL there is no honor in a racial slur,? Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) told the demonstrators. ?Here in Minnesota we have 11 proud tribal nations, but only 150 years ago, their ancestors, men and women, elders and children, were hunted and murdered for profit. This was a government-funded policy of genocide. The pain of this brutal and shameful history is still with us.?
?If there is any decency in the NFL, the time is now ? change the mascot.?
But some fans were dismissive as they passed the rally on their way into the stadium.
Vikings fan Larry Gibson, 54, a factory worker from St. Paul, paused to watch and expressed his disgust to a Redskins fan beside him.
?It could be the Vikings next, who knows?? Gibson said.
Tony Cansler, who was wearing a custom Redskins jersey along with a Redskins hat, ear muffs and mittens, shook his head. ?I mean, how far do you go with this, you know?? he replied.
Cansler, a 53-year-old maintenance worker, had driven six hours from his home in Iowa to watch his beloved Redskins play. He doesn?t think the majority of Native Americans have a problem with the team?s moniker or logo.
?To me the name is respectful,? he said. ?They should take pride in the name.?
Controversy has swirled around the Vikings game since August because of demands by the University of Minnesota to limit use of the team name and logo inside the stadium.
School officials insisted that they cannot dictate behavior to the Vikings organization, which is paying the university $300,000 a game to use the stadium while its new facility in Minneapolis is being built.
One of the protest?s organizers said he does not believe the demonstration will spill into the stadium or affect the game.
?We don?t look to have any kind of disturbance. If it happens, it won?t be because of the coalition,? said David Glass, president of the Minneapolis-based National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media.
Unlike many NFL cities where Native Americans have little presence, their influence in the Twin Cities ? and throughout Minnesota ? is robust.
TCF Bank Stadium was built with the help of a $10 million donation from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. At the time, it was largest private gift to Gophers athletics. The stadium features a plaza that honors Minnesota?s 11 federally recognized tribes.
More than 1,100 students throughout the University of Minnesota system identify themselves as Native Americans. The school has an American Indian Student Cultural Center and a Department of American Indian Studies. According to its Web site, the university has produced more Native American physicians than any other medical school in the country but one.
More than a decade ago, well before the NCAA restricted use of ethnic mascots and nicknames, the university adopted a policy requiring its athletic department to ?make every effort to avoid scheduling home events with schools that use Native American mascots.?
Basically, thousands of people showed up before the game to protest the name because there are some who believe that the name "Redskins" is a racist term that should not be used for a football team.
However, the opinion between Native Americans also seems to be split. For example, the Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly was in the owners suit with the Dan Snyder (the Redskins owner) last week to watch the Redskins play the Cowboys.
I'm curious what other people think about this. Is Redskins a term that is wrong and shouldn't be used? Do you think it's wrong but the Redskins shouldn't be forced to change their name against their will? Do you not see what the big deal is and it's just the PC police running wild?
What are others opinions?
