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Washington, D.C., Councilmember David Grosso has announced his plans to introduce a resolution that calls on the Washington Redskins to change their team’s moniker, posturing that the name is “racist and derogatory,” and that “it’s time to make a change.” Grosso’s resolution suggests “Redtails” as the team’s new nickname, saying that it would honor the Tuskegee Airmen and allow the team to maintain its fight song and color scheme with a few minor changes.
But not everyone is welcoming the councilmember’s suggestions.
Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III took to Twitter to voice his concerns, complaining about the “tyranny of political correctness” currently holding Americans “hostage.”
“In a land of freedom we are held hostage by the tyranny of political correctness,” Griffin tweeted.
Griffin’s post incited numerous politically-tinged criticisms among his Twitter faithful.
“Tyranny? Do we share a common reality?” one person tweeted back to RGIII. “Loyalty to local racist named team fading…fading,” wrote another. A third responded, “Like, RGIII knows that he’s part of a group that “political correctness” is trying to help, right?”
Several of the criticisms hurled at Griffin seemingly accuse the QB of not knowing the definition of “tyranny.” Because they failed to understand the meaning behind his words, Griffin later felt compelled to explain to outraged Twitter users that “tyranny” has more than one meaning and followed up the post with a definition of the word, writing: “Tyranny- ‘a condition imposed by some outside agency or forcefollowing the angry response to his tweet: “If we speak..we say it the wrong way If we do not speak we are cowards….”
All that being said, Griffin also found a lot of support from other Twitter users.
This unfolding saga comes as some other Native Americans across the country in Greeley, Colorado are upset over a billboard that shows three men “dressed in traditional Native attire,” and the words,”Turn in your guns. The government will take care of you.”
The billboard is intended to show that people who have accepted the government’s promise to take care of them in the past have found that the government is not very good at fulfilling its promises.
Some believe the billboard “makes light of atrocities the federal government has committed against Native Americans,” others believe the billboard goes too far, and still others say it does not go far enough.
Are these two incidents examples of political correctness gone mad, or are they legitimate gripes? The answer is up to the American people.
