To end controversy, residents of the recently named Redskin’s Drive in Wiscasset have asked town leaders to allow them to call the road Micmac Drive instead.
While it would have been better for residents to acknowledge the hurt the Redskin name caused, this is the right outcome.
“To avoid any further conflict or potential lawsuits with the Indian tribes in the state we give our consent, but would like to just continue to show our pride in the Indian heritage in the road that leads to our home by using our father’s, our grandfather’s and our great-grandfather’s side of our Indian heritage as the road name,” said a letter to Wiscasset selectmen signed by the road’s residents.
The New York Times, through its new website The Upshot, offers a helpful test called “A Super-Simple, Step-by-Step Guide to Determine if Your Team Mascot Is Offensive.” Redskin’s Drive certainly failed the test. Micmac Drive passes the test, according to Edward Peter Paul, chief of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs. “It’s cool,” he said Friday, adding that he sees the plan to name the road in honor of a Maine Native American tribe as a sign of respect.
With full credit to The Upshot, here’s how the test works. Is your team named after an animal? No problem. Is it an inanimate object — think Red Sox? You’re good to go. Fictional people or creatures, like wizards or giants? Don’t worry about it.
If the team is named after a group of people who live and breathe today, things get a bit more complicated. First step, ask the people whether they are offended by the name. Canucks? Canadians said they didn’t mind. Texans? No problem there.
But Redskins? Long before Penobscot Indian Nation leaders sent letters to Wiscasset selectmen, tribal members in Maine said this name and several others, including squaw and Indians, were offensive. These names largely have been removed from Maine’s landscape and athletic fields. In fact, Wiscasset High School changed its school mascot from the Redskins to the Wolverines in 2011.
The Upshot offers another bit of helpful advice for analyzing team names for offensiveness. Reasons given for continuing to use a name — having fond memories of it, not meaning offense, some people in the group think it is fine — are excuses, not valid responses.
“What matters is the consensus view of the people your team is named for,” reads the Upshot piece by Neil Irwin. “But if you ask [the] question and the answer is, ‘Hey, that’s not OK, man,’ you should change the name of your team.”
The Penobscot Nation and Maine’s other tribes, as politely as they can, are saying loud and clear “that’s not OK” when it comes to Redskins.
This debate should be over in Wiscasset and across the state. It also should be over in the National Football League. The Washington Redskins surely would fail The Upshot test, too.