Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Letters We Wish We'd Written Dept. - The "R" Word Edition


From yesterday's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, William Ade writes regarding a letter sent by the president and general manager of Washington's football team (i.e., Bruce Allen, brother of former Republican Sen. George "Macaca" Allen) to Sen. Harry Reid on May 23.  Reid and 49 other Democratic senators had previously written the NFL asking the league to endorse a team name change:
I wonder if Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and General Manager Bruce Allen and National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell address Native Americans in person as “our honorable redskin friends.” When handing out tablet computers to Native American children, does Mr. Snyder tell them that being called a “redskin” is something they should be proud of, that having their heritage serve a sports brand worth millions to Mr. Snyder and his partners has “deep and purposeful meaning”?  
I don’t expect those gentlemen to admit the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of their arguments; there is just too much money involved. But for the rest of us, this argument that a group of wealthy, white sports executives are honest arbiters of how Native Americans should feel is a charade. 
William Ade, Burke
Mr. Ade is correct in saying Li'l Danny Snyder, his butt-boy Bruce Allen, and Commissioner Goodfella Goodell would never admit the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of their arguments. Frankly, it's long been obvious that the only color that gets their attention is green.  If Li'l Danny could profitably own and market a team named the Washington Shitsacks, he would vow to never change that name either.

Today, Native American, civil rights and religious leaders are sending a letter to every NFL player asking them to add their voices to the campaign to get the team's name changed.  Maybe shaming will lead to shunning, and shunning will lead to the change needed.

(Image:  Li'l Danny Snyder, ethically but not financially bankrupt.)

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