Facebook Twitter Email
THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2003

"The Minneapolis Star Tribune, probably the nation's most politically correct big-city daily, says it may drop its policy of censoring "offensive" names of sports teams -- specifically, those with American Indian themes such as the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins. Those of us not afflicted with PC humorlessness will surely mourn this policy, for it is a source of endless entertainment.

For one thing, it's not a blanket ban; reporters may use quotes that contain an offending name. Thus if a player for, say, the Minnesota Vikings says, "We're gonna beat the Redskins," you can read about it in the Star Tribune. But a reporter paraphrasing the quote would have to write something like: "He said the Vikings would beat the football club from Washington."

This raises another question: Why is it permissible to refer to the hometown Vikings, but not to the Braves, the Chiefs and so forth? One could argue that "Redskins" is racially offensive in a way that the other names aren't, but if the Cleveland Indians invidiously stereotype indigenous Americans, don't the Vikes do the same thing to Nordic types?"

Get the Story:
James Taranto: Indian Summer (The Wall Street Journal 6/4)

Related Stories:
Minn. paper might drop ban on using Indian mascots (6/2)