Notah Begay III: #NotYourRedskin, Either

Photo Credit PGA

I love this man.

I love him for being a strong, proud Indian man who embodies his heritage even as he walks in two worlds, the second one filled with all the distractions and dangers of dominant-culture celebrity.

I love him for what he's doing in Indian Country, particularly with regard to children's health and diabetes prevention.

And I love him for standing up to the racists in and around the NFL and its hangers-on and fellow travelers.

And for the last, we can now expect him to be attacked shamelessly by many of the very pundits and fans who pretended to worship his "Indian-ness" up until now.

Last week, he agreed to appear on ESPN's Outside the Lines to discuss the racist slur that Dan Snyder insists on keeping as his vanity team's name and mascot. To the credit of the show, apparently all but one person booked on it opposed use of the slur and supported changing the name. Still, it's pretty clear from Dan Steinberg's post about the incident that they were hoping for "controversy" over it, and made sure they got it.

I have no interest in the arguments in favor of the name. I've heard them all before, and they're unmitigated crap, every one. There's not a new thought in the lot. But I want to bring Mr. Begay's words to your attention, because this is a man who has the right as an Indian man to speak to this issue, and who walks the talk, putting the blessings and benefits afforded him by his career right back into his community — into the children of the Navajo Nation, and the children of our Indian communities as a whole. And what he has to say is important.

First:

"If you ask me, it is offensive," Begay said midway through the segment, when asked about the Redskins name. "And I think it’s just a very clear example of institutionalized degradation of an ethnic minority, that being the Native American people. To classify it as simply a matter of political correctness only seeks to trivialize it a little bit, to an extent that it undermines the very human foundation of the people itself. I mean, if you look further and deeper into the issue, it’s about the culture, it’s about the identity, it’s about the history of our people. And that in and of itself is something that I think needs to be looked at further."

Boom. Down goes the "political correctness" canard.

Second:

"I don’t ever see myself going to a Redskins game,” he continued. “Or I should say, if I were to take my kids to a Redskins game, and we were to see a non-native dressed up in traditional regalia, with eagle feathers in a headdress, dancing around, basically mocking the culture and the tradition, it would be very difficult to explain to my children. And not only to my children, but children of many families across this country. I mean, this country was founded on the premise of equality and human rights and civil rights, and I don’t know at what point we decide what our tolerance levels are for discrimination. And who gets to decide? I think that’s the compelling question here, is who gets decide what is discriminatory and what isn’t?"

Boom. Down goes the "non-Indians get to decide what's racist against Indians" canard.

And third:

"Yeah, if you look at social indicators related to addiction, related to childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes, related to graduation rates, yeah, there [are] much bigger issues that I think tribal leaders have to deal with,” Begay agreed. “But the fact of the matter is, if Native Americans can’t be viewed as an equal in this country, then we can’t afford our children the same opportunities as they seek to go to college and seek to participate in mainstream corporate America, competing for jobs. It all starts with the basic elements of who we are as a country. And I think there’s an existential issue here as well as a cultural issue. We all have to ask ourselves, how much discrimination are we willing to tolerate as it pertains to issues like this?"

Boom. Down goes the "more important issues" canard.

And coming from Mr. Begay, that last is especially relevant. Because he's already long since put his money where his mouth it. The quote may not indicate it, but he's been working for years on these alleged "much bigger issues," and he knows better than any non-Indian ever could how the racism that countenances this sort of redface minstrelsy as an integral part of this country's national identity is one of the major factors in exacerbating all of those "much bigger issues."

So let's show Mr. Begay how much we support him and his efforts, not only on the issue of structural racism but on the ground, in Indian Country. Go to the Notah Begay III Foundation's Web site. In the upper right are three buttons. Use them. "Like" and "Share" it on Facebook; send it viral on Twitter. And if you have a few spare bucks, use the top button to make a tax-deductible donation to his foundation.

And Mr. Begay, from this household: Chi miigwech and ta'a for everything you do.