Re "i dont give a shit about names or the meanings behind them": In other words, you don't care that you hurt Natives by stereotyping them. You don't care that many Natives denounce Redskin. Thanks for admitting in black and white your insensitivity to Natives' feelings.
FYI, there are no attacks on your "persona" here, Sheena. You must've imagined them since you didn't (and can't) quote them. The only thing here about you is a challenge for you to undertake.
You know, the one you've ducked and dodged so far? The one you seem afraid to even mention? I'm talking about the challenge to call your elders "redskins," of course.
When you and your anonymous friend get up the courage to take this challenge, please let us know. Until then, I'll simply repeat what I said: "If you're not willing to do it, what does that say about your convictions? That you're brave when surrounded by your fellow twentysomethings, but not so brave otherwise?"
If you have any other defense of your actions, feel free to offer it. Otherwise, spare us the content-free comments. The quality of your live(s) has nothing to do with your efforts to promote yourself with the stereotypical name "Redskin."
Sheena continues in her eloquent way:
Nor do you "give a shit" about the quality of your writing, apparently. My name is Schmidt, not "Shmidt." You might want to learn how to spell and punctuate before you claim to be a professional writer.
You've just spent another 200-plus words telling us how much you don't care. Here's a clue: If you really don't care, stop acting as if you do. As another writer put it, "The lady doth protest too much."
So you're going to educate me? Okay, go ahead. Now that you've shared some of your fortune-cookie wisdom, start educating me. For instance, tell me something I don't know about the word "redskin."
I'm showing respect for Native people by not calling them "redskins." You aren't showing respect for them by using the slur to promote yourself and your magazine. That's why you keep ducking the issue of how offensive your actions are.
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteIf writerfella called any of his Kiowan relatives 'redskins', they merely would laugh as it's the old business that Natives may call each other the few such names that there are without harm, but let anyone NOT Native do so, and all bets are off. Witness how freely Blacks toss around the 'N' word to each other. Then again, look how freely Caucasians toss around ALL of such names for other races because that is where harm and menace almost always originates...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
I don't mind if Native high school teams call themselves "Redskins." In that case, they're calling themselves what they want and it doesn't affect others. But Redskin magazine is trying to push the word onto the public, to sell it, and to profit from it. I object to that--to the exploitation of an ethnic slur regardless of whom it offends.
ReplyDeleteWriterfella here --
ReplyDeleteYou simply do not recognize that you have fallen into their trap. Use an ostensible slur against itself -- people, Native or not, pay attention, if only because it catches their eye. It CERTAINLY caught your eyes...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
"I don't mind if Native high school teams call themselves "Redskins." In that case, they're calling themselves what they want and it doesn't affect others."
ReplyDeleteReally? Then can all-black teams call themselves the N-word? And then what happens if there is more effort to rename the Washington Redskins, but now the defenders of the name say "See these Indian high school teams? They use the name too. So it can't be that bad after all!"
I am not sure I agree with you at all on this, Rob. Either the word is "Often Disparaging and Offensive" or it is not.
RE "can all-black teams call themselves the N-word?" If they play in an all-black league, their parents and community members don't mind, and their exploits aren't widely reported, I don't see why not. In general I claim that Indians themselves should determine what's offensive to them. That's why I can only laugh when someone tells me I'm telling Indians how to think.
ReplyDeleteRecall what I wrote in a comment on Another Issue of Red Ink:
I say "redskin" is offensive because the dictionaries say it. And they say it's offensive because Native people say it. When dictionaries and Natives no longer say it's offensive, I'll concur. Because I have no independent opinion on the subject.
What if defenders of the "Redskins" team name say, "See these Indian high school teams? They use the name too. So it can't be that bad after all!" I think they (the smart ones, anyway) are saying this already. ;-)
I'd say I'm consistent in denouncing non-Natives' use of the word "redskins" while ignoring Natives' use of it among themselves. Why? Because I try to focus on the major problems, not the minor ones.
We probably could find thousands of examples of Indians using the words "red," "savage," "chief," or "warrior" to describe their endeavors. I don't write about them all because I don't have the time. That they're stereotyping themselves is a minor problem compared to the public's stereotyping them, in my opinion.
No, I don't think blacks should call themselves "niggers" or Indians should call themselves "redskins." If it were up to me, I'd eliminate the names. But I'm not sure these practices contribute a lot to the stereotyping of the people as a whole. What contributes a lot is when mainstream institutions use the terms in the mainstream media.
What "trap" is that, Russ? The trap of helping Redskin's people publicize and sell their magazine? Is that the same trap I've fallen into by helping you publicize and sell your Anasazi script, which you do every chance you get?
ReplyDeleteI think I covered this point in Challenge for Redskin Writer when I wrote:
There's another benefit to these discussions. If you Google "Redskin magazine," you'll see my postings right below the magazine's website. My commentaries are more or less linked to the magazine.
People searching for the magazine will find and read my commentaries too. In the marketplace of ideas, the best arguments will win. I don't know about you, but I'm confident that I'm kicking Redskin's butts. Their brown-skinned butts, that is.
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteRob Schmidt created this blog under salary from a Native sponsor and uses it to sell his comic books. Thus it is that he suspects any and all who traffic here are in the same game. Not so. Thus the trap that Rob fell into was of Rob's own making. writerfella's writing career preexists this site by three decades and more and will continue to exist long after NEWSPAPER ROCK has become mere fragments of 'ghosts in the machine'...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
I think that this magazine is offensive, and that it should be labeled as an insidious-racist-attack against all Native Americans! I wonder who sponsors Redskin Magazine. Besides anyone who would even consider capitalizing upon (or one who defends anyone who capitalizes upon) such a symbolic representation of theft of Native American property, murder of Native American children, and Native American Suffering period, only a racist would derive satisfaction from the Public continuance of such a hateful name. By-the-way, who is this Sheena Wassegijig? I would like to know more about her, concerning tribal status or affiliation. Hey, Mr Schmidt, you have an excellent track record of standing up for Native Americans, why don’t you stand up for us by adding an addition to your Blog in reference to her tribal status or affiliation, if any.
ReplyDeleteWriterfella here --
ReplyDeleteWow, screed and fairly well rehearsed, at that! writerfella remembers hearing a sodden Native friend in a college bar taunting a table full of rednecks by swearing and shouting, "I hate you stupid white men! You stole our land and you killed our buffalo and you burned our villages and you raped our women and you put the rest of us on reservations, and..., and..." Whereupon, before those men set upon that friend, writerfella took him by the shoulders, led him toward the door, saying loudly, "And they popped our corn!" While the bar populace broke into gales of laughter, writerfella took his friend back to the dormitory.
Excess in anything, even moral outrage, rarely is a good thing and no one wears excess well...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Sorry, but the red herring does not work with me. The “Redskin Magazine” is still an insidious-racist-attack against all Native Americans! In terminus, excess in anything is better than being left scratching the bottom of the barrel in everything.
ReplyDeleteJust a note of clarification: My issue does not concern the content of the magazine itself -- I have never read it. My issue concerns the blatant promotion of racism in any context.
ReplyDeleteCalvin Tatsey
http://thepreciseword.org/default.aspx
http://theblackfeetreview.blogspot.com/
Good comments, Calvin. I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteYou can read more about Sheena Wassegijig in Challenge for Redskin Writer and Wassegijig and Yeagley Discuss Redskin. Most of what I know about her is there.
Where I get my money from is irrelevant to this blog, Russ, since my employer exerts no control whatsoever. But I'm glad to see you recognize this as a Native-sponsored enterprise. It gives my work an aura of authenticity.
ReplyDeleteI still don't know what "trap" you're talking about. Fortunately, I couldn't care less if you think I've fallen into some imaginary trap. Another pointless and irrelevant comment.
No surprise that you've boasted about yourself again. And again, so what? My writing and non-writing careers preceded Newspaper Rock by 25 years. Most middle-aged persons could say something similar, since this blog is only two years old.
Alas, you're 17 years closer to the grave than I am. I'll be posting your obituary here in 10 or 20 years while I go on writing another 10 or 20 years. Too bad if the truth hurts, old man.
Everyone here knows you use Newspaper Rock to promote your own work. What they don't know is that I'm going to start deleting your self-serving messages. If you don't like it, tough.
Please remove my comments from your blog. I posted them before I fully understood that Redskin Magazine was for-and-by Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteThe Sovereign Post is, Calvin Tatsey.
ReplyDeleteSay what, Calvin? You questioned the tribal affiliation of Sheena Wassegijig, the Redskin writer of this posting. Are you now saying you didn't realize she was Native even though you wondered what her tribe was?
ReplyDeleteFYI, Redskin magazine is by Natives but for the general public. So your comments are still valid. The magazine is promoting the stereotypical "redskin" slur to the world, not just to other Natives.
Therefore, I respectfully decline to remove your comments. You knew what you were saying at the time, even though you seem to have forgotten it. I don't believe in editing the past, so take responsibility for what you wrote.