US Patent Office cancels Commanders Trademarks

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Doomsday101 said:
What impact? Many natvie americans are not offended by the name because 1 group makes noise does not mean they speak for everyone. Nor does it mean Washington has to change their name to accomidate

Hail to the Commanders!


Hail Victory!

Braves on the Warpath!

Fight for old D.C.!

Run or pass and score -- we want a lot more!

Beat 'em, Swamp 'em,

Touchdown! -- Let the points soar!

Fight on, fight on 'Til you have won

Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah!, Rah!, Rah!

Hail to the Commanders!

Hail Victory!

Braves on the Warpath!

Fight for old D.C.!

sorry I don't think anyone wrote this song to offend but instead to praise.
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To be fair, the lyrics were changed about 40-50 years ago because the old lyrics contained some phrases that were racial stereotypes.
 
ABQCOWBOY said:
Heck, the word "Indian" could be offensive.
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Well, yeah. That's why the term Native American has been displacing it for years.

These things move along a contiuum; they're not off/on. "African American" has gained currency over "black" but "black" is still widely used without significant repercussions. Very similar, I think, to where "Indian" vs. "Native American" sits today. Whereas "Oriental" is further along the continuum, more generally seen as distasteful but not completely taboo, like a bunch of words that wouldn't make it through the filter here.

So sure, "Indian" can be seen as offensive. But "Commander" is way more offensive, and I don't think there's a serious argument against that.
 
jimnabby said:
Well, yeah. That's why the term Native American has been displacing it for years.

These things move along a contiuum; they're not off/on. "African American" has gained currency over "black" but "black" is still widely used without significant repercussions. Very similar, I think, to where "Indian" vs. "Native American" sits today. Whereas "Oriental" is further along the continuum, more generally seen as distasteful but not completely taboo, like a bunch of words that wouldn't make it through the filter here.

So sure, "Indian" can be seen as offensive. But "Commander" is way more offensive, and I don't think there's a serious argument against that.
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"red skin" originated from NAs to describe and differentiate themselves from European settlers.

"Indian" was a name given to NAs by Europeans by way of a screw-up: they thought the NAs were someone else. In fact, that's one huge reason why Native Americans are called Native Americans now...to remove the stigma of a name applied to them by their oppressors.

A realistic and valid argument can be made that "indian" is indeed "way more offensive" than Commander.
 
"The whole issue is so silly to me," says Bob Burns, my wife's father and a bundle holder in the Blackfeet tribe. "The name just doesn't bother me much. It's an issue that shouldn't be an issue, not with all the problems we've got in this country."

And I definitely don't know how I'll tell the athletes at Wellpinit (Wash.) High School -- where the student body is 91.2 percent Native American -- that the "Commanders" name they wear proudly across their chests is insulting them. Because they have no idea.

"I've talked to our students, our parents and our community about this and nobody finds any offense at all in it," says Tim Ames, the superintendent of Wellpinit schools. "'Commanders' is not an insult to our kids. 'Wagon burners' is an insult. 'Prairie n-----s' is an insult. Those are very upsetting to our kids. But 'Commanders' is an honorable name we wear with pride. … In fact, I'd like to see somebody come up here and try to change it."

Boy, you try to help some people …

And it's not going to be easy telling the Kingston (Okla.) High School (57.7 percent Native American) Commanders that the name they've worn on their uniforms for 104 years has been a joke on them this whole time. Because they wear it with honor.

"We have two great tribes here," says Kingston assistant school superintendent Ron Whipkey, "the Chicasaw and the Choctaw. And not one member of those tribes has ever come to me or our school with a complaint. It is a prideful thing to them."

"It's a name that honors the people," says Kingston English teacher Brett Hayes, who is Choctaw. "The word 'Oklahoma' itself is Choctaw for 'red people.' The students here don't want it changed. To them, it seems like it's just people who have no connection with the Native American culture, people out there trying to draw attention to themselves.

http://cowboyszone.com/threads/us-p...manders-trademarks.292130/page-6#post-5579254


Looks like we will have to rename the State of Oklahoma. Maybe call it almost Texas. lol
 
MonsterD said:
I like the Washington Wild Boars
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I like Mike Tanier's proposal of "Red Clouds" a few months ago:

What this controversy needs is a compromise: a name that is inoffensive, honors Native Americans, won’t cost Snyder much money, won’t obliterate team traditions, and allows the owner to save face....

Have you ever noticed that the Chicago hockey team never gets grief over the name “Black Hawks?” It’s because the team is not named after “injuns,” but after a specific guy....

Red Cloud fought Red Cloud’s War, a series of 1867-68 skirmishes in modern day Wyoming and Montana that came as close to an out-and-out long-term victory as Native Americans ever got after the Civil War. In the famous Battle of the Hundred Slain (Fetterman’s Massacre, Marshall would call it), Red Cloud outsmarted a cavalry officer who was disobeying orders in the hope of provoking a battle. Red Cloud ordered Crazy Horse and a few other guys you did not want to mess with to pretend they were limping home on wounded horses. Fetterman ordered an attack on the soft target, but of course it was the 1860s equivalent of a read-option. Red Cloud sent his real forces swooping in from all sides to rout Fetterman’s cavalry.

After that battle, the Federal Government sent investigators to the region, and – you are NOT going to believe this – correctly decided that Red Cloud and his people were being provoked! The government set up the Great Sioux Reservation, which of course they soon began to systematically gank. But for a few years, Red Cloud had earned a measure of peace and independence for his people.

What a great symbol for a football team he would make: a crafty general with the wisdom to even make the United States government to admit a mistake. Red Cloud appeals to both sides of our fractured political landscape, a must for a Washington team: liberals get a proud leader in the battle against cultural oppression, conservatives get a fierce enemy of federal encroachment.
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http://miketanier.sportsonearthblog.com/the-washington-red-clouds/
 
Califan007 said:
"red skin" originated from NAs to describe and differentiate themselves from European settlers.

"Indian" was a name given to NAs by Europeans by way of a screw-up: they thought the NAs were someone else. In fact, that's one huge reason why Native Americans are called Native Americans now...to remove the stigma of a name applied to them by their oppressors.

A realistic and valid argument can be made that "indian" is indeed "way more offensive" than Commander.
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No, it really can't. The origins of the terms don't matter in the slightest. It's been true for many decades, and it's true today, that "Commanders" has been used as a term of disparagement in a way and to a degree that "Indians" has not.
 
jimnabby said:
No, it really can't. The origins of the terms don't matter in the slightest. It's been true for many decades, and it's true today, that "Commanders" has been used as a term of disparagement in a way and to a degree that "Indians" has not.
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The origins matter completely when the debate is whether or not a term should be seen as a racial slur. It helps explain why and how a large percentage of Native Americans are either not bothered by the term or take pride in it. The voices and viewpoints of the unoffended matter just as much as the voice of the offended does.
 
Califan007 said:
The misinformation flowing on this thread is staggering lol...
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No, it's not misinformation.

I've been thru the trademark process plenty of times. And one of my best friends is a trademark attorney and has worked for large trademark heavy corporations in the WWE. And my current job we deal with trademarks from companies like Chevrolet, Porsche and Ford all of the time given our agreement with those companies and the royalties they get to collect from them.

The Commanders can still sue people using the trademark, but it's extremely difficult to win those cases. And then they are suing a lot of people and those trademark attorneys are by no means cheap and they want to be paid upfront instead of taking a % of profits.

I believe Snyder will fight it initially, then give up on the idea and blame it on the government.

It doesn't really hurt Snyder per say. Theoretically it could see his merch sales drop, but it really comes down to not making as much money as he can. I'm sure he has other shareholders involved with the Commanders and they won't be happy with the fact they can't make more money and all they have to do is change the name and they will probably see a boost in mech sales initially, they can make more of the money available, and they don't have to worry about fighting for the name anymore.






YR
 
Here is the way I look at it, your mileage may vary.

If you were standing in a room having a conversation with an African American you had just met would you use the N word? If the person were Chinese would you use the word Chink? If he or she were Italian would you talk about Wops? So now for a minute picture the same scenario with an American Indian in the room. Would you look that person in the eye and call them a Commander? I think that the vast majority of people would not, and that's because they understand that the word has derogatory connotations.
 
Califan007 said:
The origins matter completely when the debate is whether or not a term should be seen as a racial slur. It helps explain why and how a large percentage of Native Americans are either not bothered by the term or take pride in it. The voices and viewpoints of the unoffended matter just as much as the voice of the offended does.
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This is exactly what I mean by "not a serious argument." First of all, the idea that a term didn't originate as offensive hundreds of years ago has absolutely nothing to do with whether it's offensive today. Secondly, whether you think a term "should" be offensive has nothing to do with whether it actually is offensive. Thirdly, your argument that many aren't offended by "Commanders" has nothing to do with your original statement, that there's a reasonable argument that "Indian" is MORE offensive than "Commander". And finally, there's a reason people still widely call Native Americans "Indians" and nobody calls them "Commanders". And that reason is very simple.
 
Hoods said:
Since you say so, it must be true. If we all whine about the Chargers, they'll be next. :confused:
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They should change their name to Green Energy. :)

Cleveland is next we know what Brown really means. lol
 
This does prove one thing that it isn't just the modern PC police kicking up a fuss if the same thing happened 15 years ago. I can't imagine the NFL just letting this happen, but it is food for thought.

People comparing it to Vikings are coming across as dim bulbs. You really think they are even close to a comparison? Also people have to realise words change over time, once it was ok to call people spastics, now its not. You may not like it, but know that using that word around people will offend.

Refusing to acknowledge this makes you the old racist relative that calls groups of people words your family flinches to.
 
Denim Chicken said:
A California high school is having a similar problem with their mascot. For a laugh, Google the Coachella Valley High Arabs mascot.
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Damn, I'm surprised they would have gotten by with something like that. Looks like an Aladdin cartoon character out there.
 
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