Native American-related names used as names for sports teams has become controversial.
How humiliating to have your ethnicity used as the name of some 'white' guy's sports team!
It's not like there is a team called the Seattle White Boys, is there?
Go Minnesota Vikings!
But Vikings is different.
Vikings is not just an ethnic designation.
When you think of Vikings, you don't think of an ethnic group.
You think of seafarers, something like a cross between pirates and seafaring explorers.
Which is why the Golden State Warriors did not have to change their name.
At one point, everyone knew that the team was originally Native American warriors.
Nevertheless, Warrior is not just an ethnic designation.
Not every Native American is a Warrior, not every Warrior is Native American.
One can say the same thing for the old nickname for the Cleveland baseball team, the Tribe.
Tribe in this case is as much a metaphor for the community of this baseball team and their fans as anything else.
After all, sociologists still talk of one's social group as one's tribe.
How much better, then, is the team name of the Kansas City Chiefs?
The Golden State Warriors have removed Native American imagery from their team.
Still, the name was originally nothing more than a Native American reference.
The Kansas City Chiefs, on the other hand, like the Kansas City Royals, are named after the old Kansas City Monarchs, the legendary old Negro League team that Satchel Paige played on.
It did not begin as a Native American reference at all!
In fact, it began as a reference to an important Anti-Racist Civil Rights period in history!
If San Francisco gets to keep their Warriors, how much better is the Kansas City Chiefs name?
Food for thought!
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson