In another attempt to pander to leftist special snowflakes, the director of the Green Acres School in North Bethesda, Maryland, has banned students and faculty from wearing any gear related to the Washington Redskins football team, claiming that the team logo is an insult against Native Americans. The football stadium where the team plays is about twenty miles from the school.
Sports Illustrated reports that head of the school Neal M. Brown released a letter explaining the school’s decision:
The local football team has been around a long time and has experienced great successes; loyalty to this beloved team and passion for the game of football are understandably strong among many of our students, families, and staff members,” the letter reads. “Clearly, there is nothing wrong with rooting for one’s team.
At the same time, the term “Redskin” is a racial slur. Its use, whether intentional or not, can be deeply insulting and offensive. It is a term that demeans a group of people. Similarly, the team’s logo also can reasonably be viewed as racially demeaning. At best, the image is an ethnic stereotype that promotes cultural misunderstanding; at worst, it is intensely derogatory.
As such, having students or staff members on campus wearing clothing with this name and/or this team logo feels profoundly at odds with our community’s mission and values.
Brown claims that the move happened after several students suggested that seeing their peers wear Redskins gear was “triggering.”
In the wake of the incident in Charlottesville, the left has placed pressure on a number of organizations to bend to their ideological whim, no matter how ridiculous. Forcing students to not wear their favorite team because someone’s feelings got hurt over a football mascot is nothing short of censorship.
The Roman Empire regularly fed those who followed the teachings of Jesus Christ to lions as a form of entertainment. What if Christians complained about someone wearing a shirt with the Detroit Lions? Would the school be so quick to accommodate the request? Doubtful. The left is only interested in virtue signaling when it benefits their agenda of censorship against those who disagree.
Redskins team owner Daniel Snyder insists that the team’s name is in fact a tribute to Native Americans and has refused to alter the mascot.