What’s in a Name?

What’s in a Name?

You may think that the real issues inside the Beltway deal with the workings of the U.S. government or the lack thereof.  Actually, there is a much larger issue that seems to be gaining ground, or trending as the more connected in our society say.

It has to do with the name of the local professional football team, the Washington Redskins.  Many feel that the name is a racial slur and that it should be changed. The current owner of the team reveres the name and its history.  Defenders of his position often maintain that changing the name would be yielding to political correctness, a term used by many to demean positions that differ than those they hold.  The good thing about calling something politically correct, is that one can avoid discussing the issue and rely on name calling instead of rational argument.

So, in keeping with the idea that Redskins is not really a racial slur, but just a term of respect, we’re calling for a discussion of  renaming some of our college team names to terms that also are not racial slurs, just common language.   We do hope we haven’t offended anyone, mean no disrespect, and certainly apologize if we’ve neglected people of any other persuasion than our own.  We encourage readers to add to the list.

Here’s what we have so far:

Institution                                  Current Name         Proposed Name(s)

Howard University                   Bison                         Colored Boys, Colored Girls —

                                    Lou Reed used it in “Walk on the Wild Side” and we didn’t hear any uproar about that

Brandeis University                 Judges                       Jew Boys, JAPs  — later is not short for Japanese, but Jewish American Princesses

Yeshiva University                   Maccabees               Christ-Killers, Hymies

Catholic University                  Cardinals                   Papists, Anti-Christs

                                     the latter if you’re a Protestant militant from Northern Ireland

Liberty University                    Liberty Flames         Bible Thumpers

American Islamic College                                          Rag-heads, Towel-heads

University of Rome                                                     Dagos, Guineas

Trinity College, Dublin                                                Micks, Paddies

University of Beijing                                                   Slants, Slant Eyes

University of Tokyo                                                     Nips

University of Saigon                                                   Gooks

Budapest University of Technology                        Bohunks

Warsaw University                                                      Polacks