Posted on 05/15/2009 10:08:46 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
WASHINGTON – The Washington Redskins won another legal victory Friday in a 17-year fight with a group of American Indians who argue the football team's trademark is racially offensive.
The decision issued Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington doesn't address the main question of racism at the center of the case. Instead, it upholds the lower court's decision in favor of the football team on a legal technicality.
The court agreed that the seven Native Americans waited too long to challenge the trademark first issued in 1967. They initially won — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office panel canceled the trademarks in 1999 — but they've suffered a series of defeats in the federal courts since then.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly overturned that decision in 2003 in part because the suit was filed decades after the first Redskins trademark was issued. The U.S. Court of Appeals then sent the case back to Kollar-Kotelly, noting that the youngest of the plaintiffs was only 1-year-old in 1967 and therefore could not have taken legal action at the time.
Kollar-Kotelly issued a new ruling last summer that rejected that argument. She wrote that the youngest plaintiff turned 18 in 1984 and therefore waited almost eight years after coming of age to join the lawsuit.
The judge did not address whether the Redskins name is offensive or racist.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
stare decis(sp)?
‘racially offensive’
BS!! It is a sign of respect and admiration.
How about the Washington Goombas?
They're a lot more successful in the courtroom than they are on the field.
“‘racially offensive’
BS!! It is a sign of respect and admiration.”
You are dead wrong.
As someone with Cherokee ancestors, I find this very offensive.
Other indian based team names (Chiefs, Braves, Warriors) even ones names after tribes (FSU Seminoles) are not offensive at all, imho. They highlight a positive aspect of indian historical culture. Redskin though, is a slur. Plain and simple.
Redskin a sign of admiration? That’s so pathetic it isn’t even funny as a joke.
I am kind of offended by the White Sox. Where can I go gets payed, yo?
The term “Redskins’ isn’t the problem. The problem is a bunch of thin skinned “Indians” with nothing else to complain about.
“As someone with Cherokee ancestors, I find this very offensive.
Other indian based team names (Chiefs, Braves, Warriors) even ones names after tribes (FSU Seminoles) are not offensive at all, imho. They highlight a positive aspect of indian historical culture. Redskin though, is a slur. Plain and simple.”
Why is ‘red skin’ a slur? My Cherokee ancestors were never ashamed of the color of their skin.
I remember the Seminol tribe telling the NCAA to “take a hike” whey they tried to PC team names.
Mascots should not smile.
He’s wearing make-up, feathers, AND he’s smiling.
GO HAWKTHHHH!
‘Cherokee ancestors’
Join, the club. In fact I’m card carrying. big deal.
Redskin is not a negative term. Infact, many boy scouts book use redskins as a term of admiration.
Those Cherokees must have been damned prolific, or at the very least they must have raped every white woman in the country to have so many people claiming Cherokee heritage. I can never bring up the subject of American Indians without someone chiming in and claiming to be "25 percent full-blooded Cherokee" or some other such nonsense.
Makes no difference to me...I am a Habs fan!
What do you think of the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo?
Now THAT'S red skin.
The Red Wings are coming after that guy first.
Stare decisis
“I can never bring up the subject of American Indians without someone chiming in and claiming to be “25 percent full-blooded Cherokee” or some other such nonsense. “
I understand what you’re saying. I was raised being told I was part Cherokee, but never took it to heart much because everyone I ran into seemed to claim the same thing.....until I really researched it and found it was true. Fact is, there are millions and millions of us who are part Cherokee.
Democrat voters!
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