Ward Churchill’s “Lets Spread the fun around”

Wilfredo Suarez

Ward Churchill’s “Let’s Spread the Fun Around” article really triggered my critical thinking. In the first paragraph he talks about the “increasing controversy” of some of the names of familiar sports teams like the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Washington Redskins. These names, not known if they were made as a racist acts, are very offensive to the Native Americans. Churchill states that this is the equivalent to having Germans naming their soccer teams “Jews”, “Hebrews”, and “Yids” and having the faces of Jewish caricatures on their uniforms. Some African Americans and other minority groups feel that this is not a racial attack but more of them honoring the Native Americans and that it was no big deal. I understand why Churchill is upset. He sees this as a racial shot to all Native Americans including himself. But soon after he takes it to the extreme and starts making up racial team names corresponding to all races. Some examples of this are when he says the NFL needs a “counterpart to the Redskins” and insists on the name the “Niggers” to show honor toward African American people. He then states racial names for Hispanics, Asians and even derogatory terms for homosexuals like. Even though I think Ward Churchill is going a little over the top, his behavior is understandable because he just wants the same treat for everybody and does not want his people to get the short end of the stick. He gets his point across by being very vulgar and extreme about his cause because he feels that is the only way for him to be heard. Even though those team names have not been changed, Ward Churchill indeed got me thinking that Native Americans are definitely not treated like everyone else in the United States.