Goodell and NFL Turn a Blind Eye to Racism

There’s been a lot to digest over the last week or so in regards to Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling’s racist remarks. The jarring content of the 80-year-old’s words came first, and among the various statements the married Sterling told his 31-year-old “girlfriend” V. Stiviano included: “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people,” and, “You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want,” and “the little I ask you is … not to bring them to my games.” Not surprisingly, a whirlwind of reaction and condemnation quickly followed after his recorded words were made public.

Those that know Sterling best would probably tell you they weren’t shocked by his words, and might even have brushed it off as “just Donald being Donald.” But that was not the case from the media and the country in general, as a public outcry quickly mounted. NBA players immediately followed suit making their collective feelings clear – those of disgust and outrage.

On Tuesday, newly minted NBA Commissioner Adam Silver put an indelible stamp on his regime by bringing down a swift and heavy hammer, banning Sterling from the Clippers and the NBA for life, fining him the maximum $2.5 million allowed by NBA bylaws, and announcing a vote of the owners will soon take place to force Sterling to sell his franchise. Silver’s penalties were announced shortly after the players, not just Clipper players, but all NBA players still competing in the playoffs, made it clear that they were going to boycott the games if they weren’t satisfied with Silver’s actions. Major corporate sponsors including State Farm, Carmax, Corona, Kia, Red Bull, Sprint, Samsung and Yokohama Tire all swiftly canceled or suspended their relationship with the Clippers as well.

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Former NBA player and current mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson, serving as a spokesperson and advocate for the players union, was joined by the mayor of Los Angeles and several current and former NBA stars including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tyson Chandler and Steve Nash on the steps of L.A.’s City Hall after the Commissioner made his ruling public, calling it a “historic” day. “I hope every bigot in this country saw what happened to Mr. Sterling,” Johnson said. “When you have institutional racism, when you hear those audiotapes, you just can’t believe that it’s 2014. This was personal,” he added, “this was so personal for me.”

The supposed message in all this? Racism and bigotry will not be tolerated – in sports and in this country in general – and woe to anyone who crosses that line. Bravo to all those involved in letting Mr. Sterling know what he said is not acceptable, and kudos to Silver and the NBA for their reaction.

But, in reality, you know what Donald Sterling’s major misstep in this entire nasty fiasco really was, besides thinking he could trust a young gold-digger with his private thoughts? He simply aimed his prejudice toward the wrong group of American minorities, a group that makes up the vast majority of his league’s employees and a good number of its fans. He offended a group that has the power to fight back, instead of just directing his racial venom at a much easier target. 

You see, you really can be the owner of a professional sports team in this country, racially slur an entire race of people, and barely register a blip on the radar screen in the grand scheme of things….if you select the right race to offend. By that I mean a race that doesn’t have large population numbers, political or consumer clout, or an overwhelming number of athletes employed on your team or in your league. 

African Americans make up over 13% of our nation’s entire population (according to the 2012 US Census) and a whopping 76.3% of the NBA. Seriously, Mr. Sterling, what were you thinking? An easier target, like Native Americans for example, account for just over 1% of our population, and as far as I can find there’s never been a Native American that played in the NBA. 

If only Miss Stiviano had posted Instagram photos with her and, let’s say, St. Louis Rams QB Sam Bradford who’s part Cherokee, instead of those with her and Magic Johnson. Sterling could have ranted and raved till his tiny heart’s content about the racial make-up of her companions and I doubt very few would have ever heard about it – or cared.

This all leads me from the NBA and on to the 800 lb. gorilla of American sports leagues, the NFL, and one of its signature franchises, the Washington Redskins. In the current edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, “Redskin” is defined as an “American Indian”—with the label “usually offensive” added for clarification. FreeDictionary.com defines the term as “Used as a disparaging term for Native Americans,” and CollinsDictionary.com sums it up as “Slang, derogatory and often offensive term for a Native American.”

But according to Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder, the name of his franchise is “not an issue” for Native Americans. Snyder and the NFL have continuously presented a unified front when addressing this subject, time after time citing the results of a ten-year-old “survey” that showed 90% of 768 self-identified Native Americans polled having said the team name “Redskins” did not bother them.

The Oneida Indian Nation of Wisconsin, however, might disagree. The Tribe responded Tuesday to the NBA’s decisive actions in a released statement; “By banning Clippers owner Donald Sterling, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and other NBA team owners have taken a courageous stand against racism in professional sports, acknowledging that professional leagues must not be a platform to promote bigotry. In taking such appropriate disciplinary action, the NBA has shown other leagues, including the NFL, that they have a moral responsibility to take disciplinary action against people like Washington owner Dan Snyder, who also continues to proudly promote bigotry by using a dictionary-defined racial slur as his team’s name.”

You know Dan, it kind of sounds like some of them might have an issue with it.

Snyder recently introduced, amidst much self promoted fanfare, the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation, which according to Snyder will “provide meaningful and measurable resources that provide genuine opportunities” for Native Americans. Snyder said that the Redskins have already donated more than 3,000 coats to several tribes, as well as shoes to boys’ and girls’ basketball teams on reservations, and that the franchise helped purchase a backhoe for the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska.

Sound anything like Donald Sterling giving away Clipper tickets to underprivileged minority children of Los Angeles? Or for years donating money to the L.A. chapter of the NAACP, for which he achieved a lifetime achievement award in 2009 (and believe it or not was actually scheduled to receive a 2nd similar award next month)? Yeah, it does to me too.

Just a couple weeks ago, the National Indian Gaming Association, a nonprofit that includes 184 Indian nations as members, canceled its sponsorship of a charity golf event in Arizona because it didn’t want to be associated with the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation, which just so happened to be the official sponsor.

You sure they’re all ok with the name Dan?

And then NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had this to say regarding the possible changing of the franchise’s name: “This is something to your point that has been discussed for decades now. It comes up every once in a while, but people have strong views of it. I think Dan is being very responsible in listening. It’s also very clear when you look at public opinion, when you look at the polls that 90 percent of Redskins fans support the name. They believe it’s something that represents pride. And the general population also supports it overwhelmingly. He’s trying to be responsible in listening and recognizing that people have differing views.”

Golf analyst and Native American Notah Begay thinks the commissioner, Snyder and the NFL’s partners are ignoring the bigger picture while trying to protect the bottom line. Begay recently said, “The Washington football team’s front office has tried to make the issue about them and it’s really not about them. It’s about, unfortunately, the NFL and its owners and its corporate partners condoning use of that word. I don’t think if a similar racially offensive word was used for the Hispanic, African American or Jewish communities that it would be tolerated.”

Representative Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa) said in a statement that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had “missed the point” about the nickname. “You cannot have it both ways. Whether good intentioned or not, the fact of the matter is that the term ‘Redskin’ is a racial slur that disparages Native Americans. It is time for the NFL to stop making excuses for itself and fully embrace its so-called commitment to diversity.

Yeah, it really doesn’t sound like they’re all OK with it Dan – just saying. Mr. Snyder, for his part, has gone on record stating, “The Redskins will never change the name. It’s that simple. NEVER. You can put that in capital letters.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not for one minute comparing Daniel Snyder to Donald Sterling, or calling Mr. Snyder a racist. He didn’t name the team, and as far as I know he’s never made any public statements slurring any race, creed or color of people (although Sterling’s comments weren’t made publicly either). But I am accusing Mr. Snyder, and the NFL for that matter, of being incredibly insensitive to a race of proud people, who just like African Americans, have suffered a long history of being terribly mistreated in this country.

Unfortunately, as has been the case for hundreds of years on this continent, Native Americans once again seem to be fighting a losing battle. My question to Daniel Snyder and the NFL is a simple one – if an expansion team wanted to join the league with the team name ‘Redskins’ next year, is there a chance in hell it would be granted? Of course not. No more of a chance than Blackskins, Yellowskins, or Pastey Whiteskins would be allowed.

Remember what Kevin Johnson said of Donald Sterling’s comments, “you just can’t believe that it’s 2014,” and  “this was so personal to me.” I agree that its hard to believe that in 2014, in a multi-billion dollar enterprise like the NFL, an enterprise that relies on the support of both the general public and corporate American alike for its thriving livelihood, has allowed the name “Redskins” to remain in place. Do you think for one moment if Native Americans comprised 3/4 of the NFL rosters (as African Americans do in the NBA) this would still be a topic of discussion? Of course not, the name would have been retired years ago. I just wish it was “personal” to a few more people, maybe some other NFL owners, or maybe someone not of Native American descent but who has a platform to speak like Mr. Johnson does. But that’s just wishful thinking.

The bottom line is this decision shouldn’t be left up to Daniel Snyder alone, a man with a substantial financial stake in this matter. To ask him to be the moral compass in this matter is equivalent to asking your dog not to eat the T-bone steak you left sitting on the coffee table. The name Redskins offends and it is racist, and there should be no room for that in then NFL – or anywhere in this country for that matter.  It’s just a shame that the Native American stands alone in his fight, and that corporate America (and America in general) won’t fight the good fight on behalf of all races, just because it’s the right thing to do. Instead, we pick our battles based only on the fear of potential oncoming financial impact, such as sponsor and fan boycotts, and labor unrest. So once again Native Americans are under-manned, under-funded and under-supported. And once again they are losing their fight.