Meanwhile, 95%+ of Native Americans feel it's a racist name.
That's a fake statistic. I literally have skin with a red tint, and I'm far from full-blooded. It's as accurate a statement as saying an African American is "black". I, personally, know of not one person who gives a damn what a football team in Washington state may call themselves; and I am certain my small data sample is more representative than whatever your's may be.
Yeah, I almost literally pulled that statistic out of my ass, but I knew that a majority of Native Americans who have been asked say they think the name is racist. Here's some actual polling that shows 67% of Native Americans find the Redskins name to be racist. My point anyway was not whether it's 95% or 67% or even 10 or 20%. My point is that if even a sizable minority find a name you are calling them offensive, it's probably best to use another name they don't find offensive. Once you're into majority territory -- just like the majority of people think the Confederate flag is a racist symbol -- it's definitely past time to retire it.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/lindseyadler/native-americans-offended-by-racial-slur#.nup8mXXP8D
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/05/15/the-redskins-poll-bill-oreilly-thought-didnt-ex/203661
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/04/03/washington-nfl-team-name-debate
I stumbled across a couple articles that contest the claim that a majority of Native Americans find the name of the Washington Redskins to be a racist slur. So I came back here to check out your references, which I didn't bother to do so earlier. They are all opinion pieces, with next to zero factual credibility. Granted, I can't find anything
except opinion pieces online,and none that could be considered a scientific poll on this question; almost everything is a biased report for one side or another. Part of the problem is how the question is asked; as in "Is the term "redskin" as applied to Native Americans a racist word?" compared to "Do you consider the Washington Redskins to be an offensive name for a football team?". Part of the problem is the polled group itself, as the question becomes, what defines 'Native American' as compared to the general population? Do you have to have a majority native bloodline, or actually live on an official Indian Reserve? Or does your opinion matter if you are only one-quarter or one-eighth native? (The legal breaking point is one-eighth for claiming federal benefits, BTW. A fact that I am aware because I happen to be one-eighth Cherokee.) If mixed people are included in the polling, are their opinions taken at parity to full natives? Or do they count only based upon their mix ratios? The facts are that a whole lot of the American "white" population, and a not-insignificant minority of the black population, have native american bloodlines. True native bloodlines are the real minority these days. Finally, is culture or genetics the dominate factor in "native american"; because someone like myself has next to zero exposure to a native culture, as even my great-grandmother was a christian convert at a young age, and no one in my family history suffered through the Trail of Tears. Mostly because my ancestors were open to cultural assimulation, whereas others were not.
In short, every poll on this question has faults, and the answer cannot be determined in any definative way. Thus, all public arguments regarding the naming of sports teams, and the Washington Redskins in particular, is based upon an ideology that favors one perspective or the other.
And this conversation has actually compelled me to look at myself hard in the mirror, to see if I have any native features. The fact is that I do, but they are subtle. For starters, I tan
very easily, but of a slightly different hue than a caucasian, as there seems to be more of an orange component to it. I suspect that most people would look at my arms, and if they thought about it at all, would assume that I'm slightly sunburned; but I always look like this. Furthermore, the palms of my hands never tan (which I presume is typical) but my hands have an obviously red color (not deep red, just red) marbled with more white-ish spots. I've always though it was bizarre, because my siblings did not display these features. Also, I have a shade of blue eyes that contains grey streaks, and that seems to be a fairly unique to native americans (the grey streaks, not the blue eyes; whom tend to be brown like everyone else). I have been identified as part-native by exactly two people in my life, without any prior allusions, and both times was because I removed my glasses in a social situation and someone guessed I have a native background. Literally no one has ever looked at my skin and guessed the same.
EDIT: There is also the issue that there are actually two races of native Americans. Typically, the tribes that originated East of the Mississippi River basin were non-nomadic farming tribes, who lived in longhouses instead of tipis. These are the tribes that the stories of the Three Sisters come from, because maize doesn't grow well West of the Rocky Mountain range. These Eastern tribes (Iriquois, Cherokee, Algonquin, etc) were those of the red-ish skin color. Whereas the tribes West of the Mississippi River basin (Apache, Mohave, Lakota, etc.) were more closely related to Hispanics, and had a darker skin tone. Most of the Western tribes were nomadic, and had a habit of living in tipis. These were the tribes that depended upon group hunting to survive, such as for the buffalo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longhouses_of_the_indigenous_peoples_of_North_America
