I'd sort of lost sight of this one: the controversy over the name of the Washington Redskins. But it's still going strong. It seems that those defending the team's hanging on to that name are appealing to the alleged fact that 'only one in 10 Native Americans were offended' by it, as well as to the more general consideration of 'history and legacy and tradition'. Tradition it certainly is but it's the wrong tradition.
As Dana Milbank argues here, racism isn't OK even when 'it polls well'. He tests out the following by analogy:
The Washington Wetbacks? The Houston Hymies? The Chicago Chinks? Or perhaps the New York Niggers?
Or, if one wants to make the link, those 'Yids' of White Hart Lane. It is constantly surprising how stuck people can be over the view that racist prejudice is simply a matter of what one intends; and how stubbornly they resist the obvious truth that words and symbols carry meanings associated with their history and which cannot simply be disowned by declarations of good will.