This article posits that the name "Washington Redskins" is not a racist term, but a tribute to Tamanend, a Lenni-Lenape chief revered by early American figures like William Penn, John Adams, and George Washington. The author claims that the team's logo, depicting Tamanend, was adopted from the Boston Braves, whose image and name were themselves inspired by the historical figure.
The article highlights that Tamanend was seen as a symbol of unity between the Old and New Worlds. Patriotic societies were formed in his honor, one of which was Tammany Hall, a significant Democratic party organization. The author traces the lineage of the team name and logo from the Boston Braves, through James Gaffney's acquisition and renaming of the baseball team, to the eventual formation of the NFL team.
The article directly addresses accusations of racism against team founder George Preston Marshall. It argues that while Marshall might have been personally racist, the name's origin lies in the historical reverence for Tamanend, and that the adoption of the name and logo was a continuation of a pre-existing tradition.
The author concludes by suggesting it's ironic that attempts to remove the name are actually an erasure of a tribute to an influential Native American figure. They characterize this as a case of political correctness silencing a piece of American history.
The Native American who inspired the Washington Redskins name and logo was celebrated by our Founding Fathers as a patron saint of America.
Now the PC police, led by big-city white elitists, want to wipe from history a multihued American past that conflicts with their monochromatic world view.
The face on the Redskins uniform is that of a member of the Lenni-Lenape tribe named Tamanend, or Tammany. He was a confidant of William Penn and symbolized the blend of Old World and New that made the United States possible.
“This is King Tammany’s Day,” wrote John Adams from Philadelphia on May 1, 1777. “The people here have sainted him and keep him to this day.”
The ragtag Continental Army at Valley Forge “spent the day in mirth and jollity … in honor of King Tammany,” wrote George Washington one year later.
“Many [colonists] regarded the story of Tamanend a fitting symbol for their ideals of freedom,” wrote Joseph Norwood in his 1938 book, “The Tammany Legend.” “He was promptly given the name of Saint Tammany, patron of America.”
A painting of Tammany appears in Norwood’s book. He looks much like the man in the Redskins logo: same distinct nose, headdress and swept-back black hair.
Patriotic societies in Tammany’s honor sprouted first in Philadelphia and then around the land.
New York City’s Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party machine led by Boss Tweed, was one of those organizations. A statue of Tammany in feather headdress graces the entrance to Tammany Hall.
In 1912, a prominent member of Tammany Hall, James Gaffney, purchased the Boston Rustlers, the city’s National League baseball team.
But he soon renamed them the more alliterative Boston Braves and introduced the image of Tammany as the team’s logo.
Fast forward to 1932, when the NFL team now known as the Washington Redskins debuted as the Boston Braves. It was common at the time for upstart NFL teams to adopt the name of the established local baseball team. The new NFL team naturally adopted the same color scheme and logo: the face of King Tammany.
The football Braves lasted only one year. The team moved from Braves Field to Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, the following season.
The young NFL franchise could no longer keep the name Braves. Yet the owners wanted to keep the tradition of red in the Boston uniform, the franchise’s Native American heritage and its image. And they wanted to pay tribute to their new home-field hosts.
The name Redskins fit perfectly on each front. The franchise kept the name Redskins when it was moved to Washington in 1937.
Evidence exists Redskins founder George Preston Marshall was a racist. But the name Redskins is not racist. It defies reason that a racist would name a team for a race of people he despised. And he had nothing to do with the creation of the logo and its Native American identity. He merely adopted it from the Democrat Party operative Gaffney.
In reality, the name Redskins, like every sports nickname, is a tribute. In this case, it’s a tribute to a great American who had a profound influence on the young nation.
“The American ideals of a human right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ spring chiefly from original American sources,” wrote Norwood. “These ideals are therefore so distinctively native to the soil that they should be known as the first Americans knew them, by a name that completely symbolizes them. This name is Tamanend.”
It’s no small irony that the PC police now want to wipe from history a public tribute to this influential Native American merely because of the color of his skin.
Kerry J. Byrne writes regularly for the Boston Herald. Talk back at letterstoeditor@bostonherald.com.
Originally Published: June 25, 2014 at 12:00 AM EDT
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