<p>The Syracuse minor league baseball team had been known as the Chiefs as a throwback to the Iroquois Nation and the local Onondaga tribe. People complained so the nickname was changed to the Sky Chiefs. Several years passed and now the nickname is once again the Chiefs, but it is supposedly a reference to railroads.</p>
<p>If the name can’t be the Washington Redskins why not change the name to the Washington Foreskins? That shouldn’t offend anyone. ;-)</p>
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<p>Why would people be upset with any of those? </p>
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<p>I’ve lived in Canada for 40+ years and have never heard that. Not even in passing. Canuck is a slang term for Canadian. There is no comparison, whatsoever, to the N-word. </p>
<p>Redskin has always been a derogatory term. I think it’s different than many of the other team names that are related to native Americans. The story I saw on the school in California made it pretty clear that the objection was with the depiction of the mascot and not the name.</p>
<p>And then there was the University of Illinois’s Chief Illiniwek. The NCAA decided the Chief was a “hostile or abusive” mascot and banned the U of I from hosting postseason games and tournaments as long as the Chief remained.</p>
<p>RISD’s hockey team is called the Nads (“Go Nads”) and their unofficial mascot is Scrotie.</p>
<p>I’m afraid to ask what Scrotie’s costume looks like…</p>
<p>[Scrotie</a> Responds to Hands-on Attention | News | About | RISD](<a href=“http://www.risd.edu/About/News/Scrotie_Responds/]Scrotie”>http://www.risd.edu/About/News/Scrotie_Responds/)</p>
<p><em>starts slow clap</em></p>
<p>Best. Mascot. Ever.</p>
<p>alwaysamom–</p>
<p>I am of French Canadian ancestry living in New England. I have heard Yankees (English Americans) use Canucks in a derogatory manner (my own father in law, in fact) many many times. There are areas of high French Canadian density in New Hampshire, MA, and Rhode Island.</p>
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<p>They may think it’s derogatory, but how is it derogatory to be called a Yankee? It’s just being called a Northerner.</p>
<p>MADad, it must be a New England thing because I’ve never heard of it in Canada. It’s strange than Americans would think that it was a derogatory term because it certainly isn’t the meaning. We have lots of family in Quebec as well as Ontario and, as I said, I’ve never heard it.</p>
<p>Houston Texans - People in Houston are Texas</p>
<p>New England Patriots - People in New England like to think of themselves as Patriots, and the early New England revolutionaries called themselves Patriots</p>
<p>Dallas Cowboys - Cowboys come from areas around Dallas</p>
<p>Minnesotta Vikings - Vikings don’t exist anymore, but Minnesota Scandanavians are proud of their heritage</p>
<p>New Orleans Saints - They go marchin’ in</p>
<p>NY Yankees - I don’t think I know what a Yankee is (and I’m from New York)</p>
<p>Pittsburgh Pirates - Unless they’re Somali, we like 'em!</p>
<p>NY Islanders - The team lives on Long Island.</p>
<p>The California Arabs???</p>
<p>(My high school mascots were the Peglegs, and the football team was really that bad. College was the Ephmen or Purple Cows, which freeze to death in winter.)</p>
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