An Article on Social Topics: My Thoughts on the Washington Redskins and Kanye's New Album Title (Yeezus) and What Is and Isn't Offensive

The Washington Redskins' logo

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about whether or not the Washington Redskins should change their name and their logo. It has been called offensive by many, as Native Americans have said the term "redskin" is the same thing to them as what the n word is to African-Americans. There's a big debate over what is and isn't offensive. What may not be offensive to some, can offend others. I figured it was time for me to write an article about it all. Don't see this as a sports article. This is more of a social article.

My mom attended the University of Illinois. The team's name is "The Illini", a reference to Native Americans. I won't get in to all the history of it all. But the mascot was Chief Illiniwek, a fun, lovable Native American that would dance at the games. Then all the sudden, as a 12-13 year-old kid, Chief Illiniwek was retired. He would no longer be a part of the games. We no longer had a mascot. I was really frustrated and annoyed by it. My mom's school history was gone, in that respect. I heard that it was because it was offensive, and I immediately shook my head. For years, I just said "It's not offensive. It's respectful. It makes no sense at all to me why it was offensive, or why it had to go away."

And then, one day, my senior year of high school, in my psychology class, we watched a documentary on what exactly happened. I sat in my chair and thought, "here we go again". I was narrow-minded. I watched the film and learned the history of what happened. A woman of Native American decent was at an Illini basketball game, and felt offended by the Chief's dance. She spent years protesting against what she saw. She kept getting responses from the school saying things such as, "We're sorry you feel offended and we respect you and we are doing it in a respectful way." Eventually, the Chief was retired.

I sat in class and was still puzzled. What was such a big deal about it? They were doing it in a respectful way, and they respected her. And then, my teacher, Ms. Teri Rodgers (one of the best teachers I've ever had, and one of my personal favorites) talked to us about what we just watched. I didn't get it. But she explained it to us. She talked about how if someone is offended by something, the least respectful thing you can do is keep doing it. While we can't see why it was offensive, it offended someone, so it needed to stop.

Suddenly a light bulb turned on over my head. It clicked, and it all made sense to me. I instantly related it to how I feel like a minority as an Evangelical Christian. Many people have said stuff to or around me that offends or upsets me, but to them, they wouldn't think it is offensive.

The biggest example I can think of when it comes to that is when people say the Lord's name in vain. When they say "God" or "Oh my God", I cringe a bit. But not as much as a cringe when people use Jesus' name as a swear word. When people say "Jesus" or "geez" to me, I start to feel sick. It feels like an attack on my beliefs. While they might not understand, as it's something so many people say, it bothers me and makes me feel uncomfortable. I simply don't know how to react to it.

Some people might say, "it's okay, I am a Christian." Really? Then why are you taking your Lord and savior's name in vain? If people say that, it makes me wonder if they really are a Christian, or if they just think they are because they go to church.

Another thing that bothered me was the Tim Tebow skit on SNL, in which Jesus appeared and spoke blasphemy. Normally when I reference a YouTube video, I post it in the article, or include a link to the video. I'm not going to do that. I don't want anyone to see that. While some of the skit was funny and wasn't that bad, there were things that did bother me. What if a team was called the "Jesus'" with Jesus as a logo? That would offend me. Jesus also appeared in a skit in a play at my high school my senior year. That upset me too. The whole idea of someone dressing up as Jesus, and pretending to be him in a way that isn't true to the Bible, or is used in a mocking way, is offensive.

Now, some might say, "have a sense of humor!" There are some things that I can laugh at. For example, I laughed hysterically at the a YouTube video I recently saw called "Christian Pickup Lines".

The video was funny. And when it comes to Christians there are certain things you can laugh at, but there is a also fine line. And when it becomes personal, or the jokes become about Christ himself, that's when it gets offensive. And again, if you are a Christian, and you are laughing at jokes about Jesus, why are you doing that?

So now I get it. I see how things can offend people, as I myself have been offended. So as we go back to the topic of the Redskins logo and team name, I think there really should be no other option than for the team to change the name.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently released a statement on the topic, saying, "Neither in intent nor use was the name ever meant to denigrate Native Americans or offend any group. The Washington Redskins name has thus from its origin represented a positive meaning distinct from any disparage that could be viewed in some other context."

Sound familiar? That's because it is the same exact thing.

And at the same time, there has been another thing that has happened recently that is similar to this. Kanye West just released his new album, entitled "Yeezus". The name is a combination of his (Ye) and Jesus'. This is straight up blasphemous. It's taking the Lord's name in vain, and it offends us Christians. Before I wrote this article I wanted to look up on Twitter to see what people were saying about this. The average tweet sounded something like "People need to stop whining about the album name, it's not offensive." And yet I feel offended. It is straight up wrong. The album contains many lyrics similar to the album name. Now I'm not trying to tell everyone, "don't buy this album, don't listen to the music" or whatever. It's your life and you can do whatever you want with it. But let it be known that to me, as well as other Christians like former Full House star Candace Cameron-Bure, are offended and upset with this. Candace Cameron-Bure said, "That is way too close. It totally bugs me. I have issues with that." Well said, Candace.

So what is the point of this all? If the Redskins and Kanye don't want to offend people, they should change the names. But based on what I have seen, I have no reason to believe that they care about that.