*Another FAN SUBMISSION by Marcus from College Park”
Courtesy: atlanticcities.com
The Editors of the Washington City Paper are at it again. The Editors have launched another attack on Daniel M. Snyder and his NFL Franchise that plays in Landover, Md.
No, this dust up probably won’t result in Snyder, The Prince of Ashburn, suing the tiny local paper with a circulation of 70,000 again, at least not yet.
At the heart of this year’s fracas, the use of what Native Americans and others consider the use of the racially insensitive (and demeaning) mascot of the “Redskin”. A publication taking an Editorial stance on such an issue in itself, is not news. Personally, I agree with the papers justification. That being said though, I couldn’t disagree more strongly with the City Paper’s means to justify its ends.
The Moral Conscience of the City Paper decided that in the best interest of changing the name of the franchise, it would launch a poll soliciting alternate names of Snyder’s Franchise. At best this “Poll” was irresponsible and at its worst a trivializing of an emotionally charged and challenging debate. Wouldn’t “The Cause” had been better served by a simple and direct statement similar to that issued by the Kansas City Star, Public Editor, Derek Donovan,
who is quoted as saying:
“I see no compelling reason for any publisher to reprint an egregiously offensive term as a casual matter of course. As brighter minds than mine have noted, nobody would be surprised if a newspaper or website decided not to name a team that used any other racial slur. I don’t understand why this should be any different.”
Agree or disagree with Editor Donovan, he used his statement, to make his (and the newspaper’s) policy and moral stance abundantly clear. Meanwhile, the City Paper chooses to have fun with a poll that served not to enlighten, but use the idea just to grab viewership. The City Paper used it’s poll’s results of 50% of a meager 1200 votes to crown the DC Franchise, “Pigskins”. The whole situation stinks of the kind of the sophomoric humor one is more likely to find in the Harvard Lampoon, not in a newspaper that is tackling a serious and emotionally charged debate responsibly.
The City Paper has now been reduced to a headline grabbing tabloid devoid of any serious reporting. The shame of this “Pigskin” caper is that those sincere and right or wrong, morally compelled forces to change the name of D.C.’s team has had their high ground eroded by an extreme error in judgment by the City Paper’s Editor’s.
I for one, who stands by the thought that changing the name of the club is the right and long overdue, don’t want the support of the City Paper, now or ever. The newspaper has painted itself indelibly and forever as just as insensitive and cruel as those people whose opinions they seek to change.
The City Paper should open its collective mind to the destructive power of Machiavelli’s thought’s that the honorable end is not justified by a corrupt means.
