WHAT'S IN A NAME? INDIANS PROTEST RACISM
By Gloria La Riva
San Francisco
Members and supporters of the American Indian Movement
demonstrated outside Candlestick Park here Jan. 9, before the
playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the National
Football League team from Washington. They were protesting
against the Washington team's racist nickname--"Redskins"--and
the league's continued tolerance of this racism.
AIM leader Bobby Castillo denounced the "dehumanizing use of
unbelievably racist words like Redskins, and the very idea of
using Indian people as mascots for football and baseball teams.
What would people think if we said `Cleveland Crackers' or
singled out any other ethnic group?" he asked. "It would never be
tolerated."
AIM activists vowed that the struggle against Washington and
other sports teams with racist nicknames--like Kansas City's
football franchise and the Cleveland and Atlanta baseball
teams--will continue until all these names are changed. A number
of colleges, including Stanford University, have dropped racist
team names in recent years.
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