This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
No decent person in his right mind would call another human being a "blackskin," "brownskin" or "yellowskin." So why can the Washington NFL franchise get away with calling its team the Redskins?
One reason is it's been around since the 1930s, and through the years, while there was grumbling and lawsuits, the nickname has survived.
Guess what. It's a new millennium. We shouldn't accept things just because that's the way it's been done for close to a century. I agree with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruling that the Washington Redskins' nickname is "disparaging to Native Americans." It's time for a change.
Up next: Cleveland Indians. (For the record, I'm good with the Utah Utes because the university has a memorandum of understanding with the Ute Tribe. If that ends, it would be sad, but the Ute nickname would have to go, too.)
Robert E. Black III
Salt Lake City