Sports

Dump the ‘Redskins’ Movement Presses Ahead

Published

9 years ago

January 6, 2015

A group protests the Washington Redskins name across from Levi’s Stadium before an NFL football game between the Redskins and the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., Nov. 23.

by Askia Muhammad
Special to the NNPA from The Final Call

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) – Hundreds of Native American protestors and their supporters staged a rally Dec. 28, outside the Landover, Md. Stadium where home games are played by the Washington NFL franchise which they insist uses a racial slur—Redskins—as its nickname.

Similar, even larger protests have been held over the last two seasons from California, to Texas, Arizona, and to a massive rally of thousands in Minnesota in November this year.

The event was intended to: “Protest the disparaging racist name of the Washington football team,” radio host Jay Winter Nightwolf told his listeners two days before the rally. The name he said is “a racial slur with a long bloody past.”

That bloody past amounted to state-sponsored genocide, Native people insist, and it’s all tied to the team name, which they say is not an honorific, but an insult.

“When those boats landed here in 1492,” Clyde Bellecourt, a member of the Anishinabe Ojibwe Nation and co-founder of American Indian Movement (AIM) told Mr. Nightwolf on his radio program on Washington’s WPFW-FM, “there’s estimates that anywhere from 15 million to 26 million native people resided here in Western Hemisphere, most of them in the borders of what’s called the United States of America.

“And at the closure of the last major massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, on Christmas Eve, when ‘peace on earth, goodwill toward men’ was going on, they mowed mostly old people women and children, close to 300 of our unarmed people died at Wounded Knee, and the last census taken around that time there’s only 248,000 to 300,000 Native people left here in America. We know well what has happened to them. It was perfectly legal at that time to kill an Indian. It was still on the books until the early (20th) Century,” Mr. Bellecourt said.

Native protests began in Washington in 1991, leading up to the 500th anniversary year of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Western Hemisphere. Dozens of Native people picketed every home game the team played then at federally-owned RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Angry fans often spit on and poured beer on the protestors.

At the same time a group led by Native attorney Suzan Shown Harjo filed a complaint, challenging the team’s trademark before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Appeals Board, which agreed seven years later, revoking the team’s exclusive license to use its name and logo, because the name is a dictionary-defined racial slur.

Team owner Dan Snyder appealed and the decision was overturned on a legal technicality in 2005. In 2007 a younger group of Indian plaintiffs filed another challenge before the Patent Board, which again, in 2014, revoked the team’s trademark. That decision has also been appealed in federal court.

Since that 1992 protest campaign, the team’s achievements on the field have gone from bad to worse. After winning the Super Bowl that year, the team has had only five seasons out of 22, when they won more games than they lost. Some superstitious observers attribute that record to a “curse” placed on the team by Indians over its racist name in 1992. During the last seven years the team has won only 32 games, while losing 64, finishing last in its division six times.

The reason native people are so adamant about this name ahead of all the sports team names which objectify Indians as team mascots, is because the “redskin” was used to prove that an Indian had been murdered, in order to collect a bounty, protestors point out. “Native people had to be eliminated, annihilated,” Mr. Bellecourt said. In order to collect the reward and prove someone had killed an Indian, at first they had to bring in a skull. Skulls he said were brought in by the wagonloads until church women in then Western states—particularly in Minnesota—protested the brutality and the provision was changed to require only a scalp.

“Which meant you could (then) kill women and children,” Mr. Bellecourt continued. “That’s where the word ‘redskin’ comes from.” That, he said, ushered in the genocide against Native people. “Dan Snyder, who is Jewish, should know something about genocide.”

“This is not just about the ‘R-word,’” Simon, another guest on Mr. Nightwolf’s program explained. “If you look at the Kansas City Chiefs, if you look at the Cleveland Indians and Chief Wahoo, people show up in the stands wearing red-face. And they don’t associate that with racism. They just say it’s their sports culture, and that’s what matters to them.

“The reason that the Redskins (team is) facing us with this full national rage, (is because) Washington D.C. is the nation’s capital, and the message that it sends, that a Native American is a mascot, a dehumanized individual. That’s a strong message that we send everywhere. People are going to follow suit with that.”

In its 22 years of active campaigning, the movement to eliminate native team mascots has been successful, according to Mr. Bellecourt. In 1992 the count was more than 12,000 teams across America with Native Americans as mascots. Universities and high schools have gotten rid of the names and the slurs. Now he said there are 2,000 teams which still use native mascots.

“The reason we picked the Washington football team (is) because it’s the most horrific name in sports history,” Mr. Bellecourt said. “If we get them to change the others will change automatically—Chief Wahoo (Cleveland Indians MLB), the ‘Tomahawk Chop’ (Atlanta Braves MLB),” the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL), Golden State Warriors (NBA).

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Oakland WNBA Player to be Inducted Into Hall of Fame

The Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame (MESHOF) announced that it will induct Dr. Alexis Gray-Lawson, a former WNBA player and Oakland Technical High School graduate at its inaugural Curt Flood Platinum Award Ceremony in February. Gray-Lawson’s Platinum Award is part of the Hall of Fame’s 24th Annual Bay Area induction and award ceremony, where four other retired professional athletes will be honored.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo Courtesy of Alexis Gray Lawson.

By Post staff

The Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame (MESHOF) announced that it will induct Dr. Alexis Gray-Lawson, a former WNBA player and Oakland Technical High School graduate at its inaugural Curt Flood Platinum Award Ceremony in February.

Gray-Lawson’s Platinum Award is part of the Hall of Fame’s 24th Annual Bay Area induction and award ceremony, where four other retired professional athletes will be honored.

The banquet and ceremony will be held from 5:45 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the George P. Scotlan Convention Center at Oakland’s Marriott Civic Center Hotel.

“I am truly honored to receive this incredible nomination,” said Dr. Alexis Gray-Lawson, who, along with college teammate Devanei Hampton, lead Oakland Tech to its second consecutive state title in 2005. “It took a village to raise me and get me here, and I truly am excited to continue the legacy.”

Gray-Lawson, a “second team” Parade All-American and an All-State honoree, as a senior in ’05, was chosen for the California Interscholastic Federation sportsmanship award. She only lost one game throughout her four-year career in high school. Her jersey was retired at Oakland Tech and placed in the National High School Hall of Fame as a four-time All-City recipient, averaging 17.2 points per game during her career.

Gray-Lawson received scholarships in volleyball, softball, and basketball before deciding to travel up College Avenue to the University of California, Berkeley. There, she played in more basketball games (143) than any other player in Golden Bears’ history. She finished her career as the Bears all-time 3-point leader (211), and she is ranked third in scoring with 1,982 points.

An All-Pac 10 and honorable mention All-American in 2010, Gray-Lawson also was the top player at 5’8” or under for the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award. Later that year, she was a third-round pick of the Washington Mystics in 2010 and played with the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association in 2011 and 2012. She also played professionally overseas in Turkey and Israel.

Other inductees are Clifford Ray (Basketball); Lee Lacy (Baseball); Spencer Haywood (Basketball); and Mohinder Singh Gil (Track & Field).

Organizers say the event promises to be a “historic and celebratory evening,” and iconic personalities from across the professional sports industry and its various disciplines will attend.

The no-host cocktail hour begins at 5:45 p.m.; dinner at 6:45 p.m.; and the ceremony at 7:45 p.m. All times are prompt. General tickets are $250.00; Seniors (65 and older) $150.00, and students $50. This includes dinner and the ceremony. Tables of 10 are available as well, and early purchase is recommended.

MESHOF is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring athletes from all corners of the globe who have made significant contributions to the world of sports and broadening the public’s understanding of the contributions people of color have made to professional sports; and to provide educational life skills and mentorship opportunities for deserving youth. Proceeds will help maintain the City of Oakland’s Curt Flood Field, Oakland Parks & Recreation, and MESHOF’s after school and mental health initiatives.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.multiethnicsportshof.com. For additional information, please contact: Arif Khatlib @ afrosportshall@aol.com or India Alston @ india@beamcreativehouse.com

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O.J. Simpson, 76, Dies of Prostate Cancer

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson, who rose to fame as a college football player who went on to the NFL and parlayed his talents in acting and sportscasting, succumbed to prostate cancer on April 10, his family announced.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson. Wikipedia photo

By Post Staff

Born and raised in San Francisco, the Galileo High School graduate was recruited by the University of Southern California after he was on a winning Junior College All-American team.

At USC, he gained wide acclaim as a running back leading to him becoming the No. 1 pick in the AFL-NFL draft in 1969 and joining the Buffalo Bills, where he had demanded – and received — the largest contract in professional sports history: $650,000 over five years. In 1978, the Bills traded Simpson to his hometown team, the San Francisco 49ers, retiring from the game in 1979.

Simpson’s acting career had begun before his pro football career with small parts in 1960s TV (“Dragnet”) before “Roots” and film (“The Klansman,” “The Towering Inferno,” Capricorn One”).

He was also a commentator for “Monday Night Football,” and “The NFL on NBC,” and in the mid-1970s Simpson’s good looks and amiability made him, according to People magazine, “the first b\Black athlete to become a bona fide lovable media superstar.”

The Hertz rent-a-car commercials raised his recognition factor while raising Hertz’s profit by than 50%, making him critical to the company’s bottom line.

It could be said that even more than his success as a football star, the commercials of his running through airports endeared him to the Black community at a time when it was still unusual for a Black person to represent a national, mainstream company.

He remained on Hertz team into the 1990s while also getting income endorsing Pioneer Chicken, Honey Baked Ham and Calistoga water company products and running O.J. Simpson Enterprises, which owned hotels and restaurants.

He married childhood sweetheart Marguerite Whitley when he was 19 and became the father of three children. Before he divorced in 1979, he met waitress and beauty queen Nicole Brown, who he would marry in 1985. A stormy relationship before, during and after their marriage ended, it would lead to a highway car chase as police sought to arrest Simpson for the murder by stabbing of Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.

The pursuit, arrest, and trial of Simpson were among the most widely publicized events in American history, Wikipedia reported.

Characterized as the “Trial of the Century,” he was acquitted by a jury in 1995 but found liable in the amount of $33 million in a civil action filed by the victims’ families three years later.

Simpson would be ensnared in the criminal justice system 12 years later when he was arrested after forcing his way into a Las Vegas hotel room to recover sports memorabilia he believed belonged to him.

In 2008, he received a sentence of 33 years and was paroled nine years later in 2017.

When his death was announced, Simpson’s accomplishments and downfalls were acknowledged.

Sports analyst Christine Brennan said: “… Even if you didn’t love football, you knew O.J. because of his ability to transcend sports and of course become the businessman and the pitchman that he was.

“And then the trial, and the civil trial, the civil case he lost, and the fall from grace that was extraordinary and well-deserved, absolutely self-induced, and a man that would never be seen the same again,” she added.

“OJ Simpson played an important role in exposing the racial divisions in America,” attorney Alan Dershowitz, an adviser on Simpson’s legal “dream team” told the Associated Press by telephone. “His trial also exposed police corruption among some officials in the Los Angeles Police Department. He will leave a mixed legacy. Great athlete. Many people think he was guilty. Some think he was innocent.”

“Cookie and I are praying for O.J. Simpson’s children … and his grandchildren following his passing. I know this is a difficult time,” Magic Johnson said on X.

“I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere,” attorney Gloria Allred, who once represented Nicole’s family, told ABC News. “I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family, and they should be remembered.”

Simpson was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a year ago and was undergoing chemotherapy treatment, according to Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter. He died in his Las Vegas, Nevada, home with his family at his side.

He is survived by four children: Arnelle and Jason from his first marriage and Sydney and Justin from his second marriage. He was predeceased son, Aaren, who drowned in a family swimming pool in 1979.

Sources for this report include Wikipedia, ABC News, Associated Press, and X.

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Arts and Culture

Gov. Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom Host 2024 Hall of Fame Ceremony

Former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and three other African Americans were among 10 luminaries inducted into the 2024 Class of the California Hall of Fame on Feb. 8. The 17th Annual California Hall of Fame ceremony was held at the California Museum.

Published

2 months ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Willie Brown, Former California Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor, was proud to be among the Hall of Fame inductees. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By California Black Media

Former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and three other African Americans were among 10 luminaries inducted into the 2024 Class of the California Hall of Fame on Feb. 8.

The 17^th Annual California Hall of Fame ceremony was held at the California Museum.

“The California Hall of Fame is one of our families’ favorite traditions as it is a time to come together to celebrate remarkable Californians as well as their loved ones because we know that it is about partnerships,” Siebel Newsom said. “The governor likes to say that California is a dream factory because it doesn’t matter what zip code or background you come from, the California dream is alive and well to everyone who calls this state home.”

The other Black honorees were filmmaker Ava DuVernay; Federal Judge and civil rights leader, the Hon. Thelton Henderson; and basketball Hall of Fame player and broadcaster Cheryl Miller.

“It’s what I’ve been waiting for and to be among a great group of individuals that also deserve the honor,” Brown told California Black Media on the event’s red carpet before the ceremony began. “No, I never thought someone from Texas would be recognized this way. But here I am, and it all happened in the great state of California. It’s a fantastic feeling.”

Other 2024 inductees are: master chef and “mother of fusion cuisine” Helene An; computer scientist and “father of the internet” Vincent A. Cerf; all-female pop punk band The Go-Gos; Chicano Rock band Los Lobos; former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Congressman Leon E. Panetta; and artistic director and choreographer Brenda Way.

This year’s honorees join a history-making club with over 150 inspirational Californians previously inducted for their groundbreaking achievements and personifying the state’s innovative spirit.

“It’s just a humbling experience. I want to thank the Governor and First Partner. Who would have thought 100 years ago (that I would be inducted?) It’s incredible,” Miller said after her induction. “I want to thank the governor and First Partner for an incredible event.”

During his acceptance speech, Henderson said he was deeply honored.

“You know, it really would have been a really big deal to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the area where I grew up, for example, South Central Hall of Fame, or the Watts Hall of Fame, or the Straight Out of Compton Hall of Fame,” he said. “But being inducted into the California Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame of the greatest state in the country in this great nation is something else.”