About 8 years ago I was still doing construction out in the field instead of in an office. I usually wore a Cowboys cap. One day this guy starts blasting the team. Of course he was a Commanders fan.
:skins:
So, he proceeds to tell me that Commanders is not a racial remark. I was a bit perplexed at this and he went on to explain that it is a type of peanut that is native to the area near the District of Columbia. He was dead serious.
:suxskins:
Well, you all pretty much know how confrontational I can be, naturally I decided to challenge him on this absolutely ridiculous assertion. I asked him to explain why the logo is a Native American, and not a peanut. It was their way of honoring the Native American tribes of that area.
:skins:
I asked him if he'd every heard of the science of etymology. Of course he hadn't. I told him it was the study of the origin of words. I promised him that if he looked up the origin of the word Commander he would find that it was indeed a racial slur and had nothing whatsoever to do with a peanut. I further bet him that although I knew nothing about peanut variations that I wouldn't find a variation called a Commander. Yes, I looked it up. No there isn't a variation of peanut called Commander.
:suxskins:
So, I asked him to explain to me why the original name of the team before they moved to the DC was the Boston Braves. Was there a Brave genus of peanut too? He did not know that they had ever been anywhere but the DC. No, I wasn't shocked.
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I also asked him to explain to me why George Preston Marshall was an avowed racist who discriminated against African Americans, but somehow was honoring Native Americans with this name and logo. He had no idea who GP Marshall was. Color me not surprised. So I explained to him all about Mr. Marshall and his policies and how if it wasn't for the Kennedy Administration forcing him to integrate he might not have ever done it. He said I was making that up. He assured me that Commanders was not a slur of anyone.
:suxskins:
Finally I challenged him to go on a trip with me to the Navajo Nation. I challenged him to find a group of Navajos and while I waited in the truck I dared him to walk up to him and call them Commanders. Just like I figured, he lacked the testicular fortitude to put his safety where his mouth was.
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He had one final scud to fire before he wallowed back in his own stupidity. He asked me if I knew anything about football at all? I told him my pee knew more about football than he did.
:dissskin:
Well, I wasn't going to lie to him after all that. I didn't want to experience this.
:redwhine:
