Washington Redskins supporters are doing a really good job of becoming the most hated sports fanbase after the Patriots. And Yankees. And Lakers. And Heat, circa-2013. And Red Sox. OK, there are a lot of awful fanbases out there, but only one threatened to “f*cking cut” someone because he had the GALL to wear a shirt that offended an entire group of people.
Three members of the Native American comedy group the 1491s, who were interviewed by Jason Jones during last week’s “Catching Racism” Daily Show segment, also attended a Redskins game with Jones. Migizi Pensoneau wrote about the experience, which went about as well as you’d expect.
There were points during that hour-long experience where I actually was afraid for my life. I have never been so blatantly threatened, mocked or jeered. It was so intense, so full of vitriol that none of the footage ended up being used in the segment. I’m a big dude—6’1”, and a lotta meat on the bones. But a blonde little wisp of a girl completely freaked me out as I waited in line for the bathroom. “Is that shirt supposed to be funny?” she asked motioning to my satirical “Caucasians” T-shirt. And then she said, “I’ll f*cking cut you.” Actually, she didn’t scare me so much as the wannabe linebackers standing behind her who looked like they wanted to make good on her threat.
I think back to the tailgate: the man blowing cigar smoke in my face, the man who mockingly yelled, “Thanks for letting us use your name!”, the group who yelled at us to “go the f*ck home,” the little waif who threatened to cut me, the dude who blew the train horn on his truck as I walked by the hood. I think of all of that, and I think back to [pro-mascot panelist Kelli] O’Dell crying and trying desperately to get out of the room full of calm Natives. I thought she was crying because she was caught unawares and was afraid. But I realized that was her defense mechanism, and that by overly dramatizing her experience, she continued to trivialize ours. It was privilege in action. And as I realized these things, something else became incredibly clear: She knew she was wrong. (Via)
To quote Cartman, Washington Redskins fans (and Dan Snyder), go f*ck yourself.
