Redskins by King C. Richard;

Author:King, C. Richard; [King, C. Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SOC031000 Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations
ISBN: 4190802
Publisher: UNP - Nebraska
Published: 2015-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

Questionable Charity

In late March 2014, Daniel Snyder reported on his ongoing engagement with Indian Country in an open letter to “Everyone in our Washington Redskins Nation.” He described how he and members of his staff had “traveled to 26 reservations across twenty states to listen and learn first-hand about the views, attitudes, and experiences of the Tribes.” He spoke with pride of the support for the team, quoting Mary L. Resvaloso, chairwoman, Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians: “There are Native Americans everywhere that 100% support the name.” He lamented the myriad social ills they encountered, seemingly noticing them for the first time. And he committed himself to “making a real, lasting, positive impact on Native American quality of life — one tribe and one person at time.” To this end, he announced the establishment of the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation (OAF), which would direct “meaningful and measurable resources” to “provide genuine opportunities for Tribal communities. With open arms and determined minds, we will work as partners to begin to tackle the troubling realities facing so many tribes across our country. Our efforts will address the urgent challenges plaguing Indian country based on what Tribal leaders tell us they need most. We may have created this new organization, but the direction of the Foundation is truly theirs.”24

By all appearances, the appointed leadership reinforced the envisioned collaboration and outreach. Snyder named Gary L. Edwards (Cherokee), former deputy assistant director of the U.S. Secret Service and chief executive of the National Native American Law Enforcement Association (NNALEA), to lead OAF. In doing so, he declared, “I think we have the right leader in Gary Edwards.” Much like the team’s efforts to associate with esteemed Indians and passable pretendians, Edwards’s past leadership left something to be desired. Namely, the Bureau of Indian Affairs terminated a $1 million contract awarded to NNALEA after federal investigators found the group’s work “unusable.”25

Whatever else its accomplishments may be, OAF has made some pretty powerful claims on “the real,” especially in the form of authentic Indianness, to project sincerity and manufacture goodwill. Specifically, it locates the problems and partners “out there” in Indian Country, in tribal communities, on reservations, in “troubling realities” and “urgent challenges,” not in Washington DC, the team name, anti-Indian racism, the voices of advocates, or the concerns of pan-Indian organizations. As Snyder put it, “They have genuine issues they truly are worried about, and our team’s name is not one of them.” Thus, this is not about us; it is all about them: Indian problems, Indian partners, Indian leaders, and a genuine Indian as its titular head. OAF softens the image of the team’s owner, provides important cover for the organization, and lends legitimacy to its efforts, marking a stark divide between the team and its traditions and “real problems,” while leveraging authentic Indianness to defend the embattled name.

Not surprisingly, critics were quick to question the charity. Both the animated comedy series South Park and the satirist Stephen Colbert lampooned OAF, while pundits lambasted it. Almost immediately, social media lit up in response to the announcement.

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