Recently I have become concerned that my blog posts are consistently rather negative. I have asked myself why that might be. Am I only motivated to write about things I want to change? Don’t I want to contribute to conversations about positive things? Am I trying to depress my readers?
The answers to those questions are: Maybe (uh-oh), absolutely yes, and no. So I am pleased to take this opportunity to write about some good news. Last week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office canceled six federal trademark registrations for the name of the "Washington Redskins." The ruling came 8 years after the petiition was filed, and the office determined that the name is disparaging to Native Americans. Unfortunalty, this does not mean that the team will be required to change their name or to stop using the current one. However, it could end up costing them enough money that they would be motivated to make a change. The owner continues to argue that he will never rid the team of their racist name and the team plans to appeal the decision. We will have to wait and see how the story unfolds, but I am hopeful that this is a sign of improvement. Although activists have spent decades fighting to rid schools of Native American mascots (see my earlier post for more) there does seem to be new traction now and the movement has gained momentum. Many more people are talking about the issue than I have ever heard (I overheard a couple of college students dsicussing it in the Dallas aiprort last week). The tide is changing. Although some Americans are holding strong to their desire for tradition, many are invested in supporting equality and don't think the tradition of a name should outweigh the dignity of a group of people. Every day that we walk closer to a vision of an inclusive and respectful world is a good day in my book. Walk on, America. Comments are closed.
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AboutEMPOWERTAINMENT aims to take a critical look at media in regards to how gender and women/girls are portrayed. From popular articles, videos, and websites, to original submissions, we want to not only examine the media and its relation to gender, but help shift it. Archives
November 2017
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