Redskins change of name could inform others closer to home

YOU’RE aware, hopefully, of the Black Lives Matter movement, and also all the associated commentary around statues of former slave traders and general not nice types who are immortalised in bronze and put on public display when they really shouldn’t be.

You are also aware, no doubt, that certain GAA clubs have come under the microscope because they are named after John Mitchel, the 19th century Irish nationalist activist who was also a rabid racist and who was a strong advocate of slavery in the United States of America.

In other words, not really the sort of fellow you’d really want the sports club you’re sending your son or daughter to named after.

Quite what all those GAA clubs named after the Derry native are prepared to do about that – given that they can be no longer in any doubt about the deplorable stance held by Mitchel – is really a matter for the membership of those clubs, but if any or all are struggling with the idea of simply erasing a century-long association with a name that is now absolutely known to that of a racist, the could do worse than look to America for some guidance.

Now, the USA is hardly a beacon of light when it comes to matters of racial equality, but this week one very big sports team has decided to drop a part of its name that is widely accepted as being a racial slur.

The Washington Redskins – one of 32 NFL franchise teams – announced that it will be “retiring the Redskins name and logo upon completion of [a] review of the team’s name”.

Needless to say opinion is divided – even among Native Americans – if the name is a racial slur, but if it offends one person then it is. And even if the team owner’s motives were cynically motivated by business interests rather than by doing the right thing, the result is that public discourse and pressure has resulted in a derogatory names being taken away from a sporting organisation.

It goes without saying that being a Washington Redskins fan does not mean one holds any negative views against Native Americans, no more so than any member of a club called after John Mitchel would agree with his views on race and slavery.

The Washington franchise adopted that name almost 90 years ago, and most Mitchels GAA clubs were probably named earlier than that, and even then it was presumably done in ignorance of those repellent views.

Still, it’s never too late to try to do the right thing. Perhaps all members attached to all GAA clubs called after John Mitchel – and any other unsavoury person for that matter – should examine the evidence, and then their consciences, and then decide whether or not the name is a good fit.

No harm in doing that much anyway.