Other Viewpoints: Is it time for more team names to change? – The Columbus Dispatch

American sports are changing, and the Kansas City Chiefs are on the clock.

Last week, the NFLs Washington Redskins announced plans to reconsider the teams name, a decision that will almost certainly lead to a new name by the start of the football season. A few days later, the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball said they would think about a new name too.

"We recognize our unique place in the community," the baseball team said in a statement, "and are committed to listening, learning and acting in the manner that can best unite and inspire our city."

If both franchises pick new names, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta Braves and the NHLs Chicago Blackhawks would be the only remaining major sport franchises using Native American symbols in their promotions and game-day activities.

Each of those teams including the Kansas City Chiefs must begin a thorough reappraisal of their use of those images and traditions.

Changing the defending Super Bowl champs name would be an enormous, controversial undertaking. But the Chiefs and other community leaders who happily bask in the clubs success must at least publicly explain in this current moment why keeping the name and associated rituals are so essential to the teams success.

The concerns of the Native American community, and a much broader audience, cant be ignored. As other teams take a hard look at ethnic stereotypes and racist caricatures, the Chiefs cant simply sweep this issue under the rug or hope that a well-timed meeting will calm everyone down. Its time for a real examination of all of it: the tomahawk chop, the drum, Arrowhead Stadium, Warpaint and the costumes worn by fans at the game.

The National Congress of American Indians calls such iconography intolerant. "Rather than honoring Native peoples, these caricatures and stereotypes are harmful, perpetuate negative stereotypes of Americas first peoples, and contribute to a disregard for the personhood of Native peoples," the group says.

The question isnt whether all Native Americans find these symbols objectionable. The point is that some Native Americans do. That should be enough for the team and the city to reconsider their fondness for a chant and a costume that have no relation to the game.

How can the NFL pressure the Washington team to change its name while endorsing the chop or the war drum here in Kansas City? The contrast will be too obvious and will be noticed by everyone in America if the Chiefs success continues. (Quarterback Patrick Mahomes newly inked 10-year contract extension gives us hope that it will.)

There will be enormous resistance to even talking about this. As in Washington, D.C., and in Cleveland, fans will insist the names are meant to honor Native Americans or arent related to that community at all.

If Kansas City were picking a name today for a sports franchise, would it pick one based on ethnicity? Of course not. Times have changed. What made sense in the 1960s would never even be considered now.

Others will claim political correctness run amok, or another example of so-called "cancel culture." In a Monday tweet, President Donald Trump criticized name changes in Washington, D.C., and Cleveland: "They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness," he wrote.

Hes wrong. Real strength is understanding the power of words and images and the importance of using them to promote unity, not division. Real strength is reexamining old traditions in the light of new circumstances.

The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)

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Other Viewpoints: Is it time for more team names to change? - The Columbus Dispatch