I joined the rally against the Washington football team’s racist name with my husband Steve on November 2, 2014. It was a chilly and sunny Sunday morning, so we wrapped up in our warm winter clothing. I carried the sign that we made the previous night:
News Media, You, Too! False Objectivity is Racism!
I’m really hurt and bothered whenever I see or hear news reports using the R-word. Do the news media think that they are being objective when they use this offensive word? Howard Zinn said that there is no such thing as objectivity. According to Webster’s dictionary, the R-word has been known to be offensive for more than 30 years, so why keep using it?
In their irresponsible false objectivity, the media pretends to avoid taking a side by “balancing” their stories. They include some Native people recruited by the Washington team who say they don’t feel offended. This allows the media to continue using the R-word in the face of all the protesters and tribal leaders who are quite articulate in their condemnation of the word. The media are taking sides by continuing to use the R-word. Journalists dedicated to the status quo ignore the dictionary. The New York Times and AP decided to keep using the R-word “for now.” They don’t really give a reason. Just like the Washington fans say, it seems that tradition is its own justification.
Jesse Ventura did a good job explaining why reporters or the Washington team stubbornly use the R-word, despite the fact that it is a wrong word. He said that individuals are sued or get fired if they use a racist word, but institutions, such as the Washington team and news media, can get by with it. Racism is a combination of power and race. The collective power of racism – institutional racism — seems to be the biggest problem in this country.
The media are powerful and effective. I hear that the R-word is becoming more popular than ever. Even people who don’t care for football know the R-word because of its overuse in the headlines about the controversy. I am sad when I think of small children are using the R-word while watching the game or just the news…. On the other side of my sign, I displayed examples of the local news media’s headlines using the R-word, editing them out in proofreader’s style. I noticed that some news media avoided taking a picture of my sign. Others were interested. Some participants gave me some good feedback, saying, “I like your sign” or “I agree with you.”
It was fun to meet our friends at the rally, and I was so excited to see many famous speakers! Winona LaDuke, Bill Means, and Clyde Bellecourt (our old boss) talked powerfully, as usual. It was good to see Steve’s old boss, too, Jesse Ventura, a longtime opponent of the R-word. He refused to use it in the early ‘90s when he did some sports broadcasting! Clyde noted that it has been 45 years since the American Indian Movement was founded. Steve and I met at AIM’s 20th anniversary, so our life goes on with AIM’s history.
The rally and speeches were so peaceful and powerful. Most of the speakers avoided mentioning the R-word. Instead they said, “Washington” or “Snyder.” I even noticed a reduction of the R-word in the media reports of the rally, where they substituted “Washington” for the offensive name. Maybe they saw my sign!