Courtesy huffingtonpost.com
On Thursday, The Huffington Post tweeted a photo of a man playing Indian during a Washington football team game.

Moya-Smith: This Is What the Ugly Face of American Racism Looks Like

Simon Moya-Smith
9/25/15

Autumn is a vicious season for Native Americans.

There’s Columbus Day. Indian costumes on Halloween. Thanksgiving. You’ve even got Native American Heritage Day LITERALLY on Black Friday every year. And then — you guessed it — it’s back to fantastic fanatical football buffoonery. 

On Thursday, The Huffington Post sports section tweeted a photo of a man playing Indian during a Washington football team game in New Jersey against the New York Giants. The unidentified sports fan was painted in full redface and wore what appears to be a wig.

So there you have it, folks. Racism. It’s right there in the photo above this paragraph. It’s alive and well. Just ask an Indian [and just take a long gander at the photo to see exactly what Native Americans have to deal with in this so-called “post-racial” America].

“But, Simon,” you might say, “I’m sure he’s not intending to be racist.”

My response to that ol’ banal argument: intent does not change the outcome. It’s like if some guy painted his face black for a Halloween party and then said he wasn’t intending to be racist. His intent doesn’t change the fact that blackface [and redface] is extremely offensive and, yep, racist.

The lesson here is simple, sports fans: don’t paint your face red. Don’t play Indian. There’s a thing called social media now. There’s also a thing called screenshots. We see you. Everyone does. And we’ll call you out. It’s inevitable. Remember: redface is racism. Think, McFly, think.

Simon Moya-Smith, 32, is the Culture Editor at Indian Country Today, and a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation. Follow him @simonmoyasmith

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tmsyr11's picture
tmsyr11
Submitted by tmsyr11 on
 
…..no, but the likes of Susan Taft Reed (Dartmouth) and Elizabeth Warren (potential US Dem – Vice President Nominee) on the other hand are ‘celebrated’ or ‘ignored’ from this article writer’s individual perception and understanding of HIS RACISM. This too (above) is the FACE of what American Racism looks like.
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nativewomn's picture
nativewomn
Submitted by nativewomn on
 
I will soon be creating a FB page to document people like this and other foul racists found on social media. The racism I and others get thrown at me/us on a daily basis is disgusting. Neo-Nazis, redslur fans, and other vile creatures, using social media to announce to the world that they are hateful, uneducated, inhuman jerks. Some are even potentially dangerous.
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moonlion's picture
moonlion
Submitted by moonlion on
 
Hello tmsyr11, Your comment below is incomprehensible to me. If you are following this thread, please explain your point more clearly. I do not see the photograph of Simon Moya-Smith, to which I think you are referring, as a picture of the fact of American racism. . As to the article itself, amen. Redface, blackface, it’s all racist. The whole point is that some folks carry out racist behavior regardless of whether they intend to do so or not, due to thoughtlessness and simple ignorance. When these people can see their behavior through the eyes of the other people whom they insult, offend, hurt, by their actions they…since they indeed did not intend harm…often are able to recognize their behavior as racist and become more informed and aware. This is a good thing, and articles like Mr. Moya-Smith’s add toward solution of this problem.
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Tohbi Issi
Submitted by Tohbi Issi on
 
Good article! I’ve been wondering what this photo was all about. I hadn’t really seen any details. To tmsyr11: you missed a critical sentence – "Autumn is a vicious season for Native Americans." This article isn’t about all the different types of redface ever, it’s about football season and Holidays in Autumn where redface is treated as okay. There are, however, articles about people like Taft Reed up on ICTMN!
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Sylvetta Mason
Submitted by Sylvetta Mason on
 
I don’t think it’s racism. He is just a Hard Core fan. Like any other football fan out there. But seriously the Name Washington REDSKINS, I don’t know what to tell you, especially with the Mascot Logo. What else are they suppose to dress like to support (well besides their Jersey) their team. Now, all he needs are the two feathers to to complete The Look! 🙂 I guess it’s the way you look at the picture and then take it the way you want to look at it. Like life. I could be mad about it and negative or turn it into a positive and laugh about it.
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Michael Madrid's picture
Michael Madrid
Submitted by Michael Madrid on
 
To tmsyr11: Please enlighten us all how the author of this article is racist. Explain to us all how Susan Taft Reed or Elizabeth Warren are as racist as an idiot wearing a braided wig and redface and dressed in a bad Halloween costume. Go ahead, explain it to us, I think we could all use a good laugh!
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human being's picture
human being
Submitted by human being on
 
Great article! Thanks for posting it! What is tmsyr11 talking about? Do you (the author) support Susan Taft Reed and Elizabeth Warren? I don’t understand the comment here and how that is relevant to a story about the washington team. Please explain tmsyr11. Your comment doesn’t address the content of the article so I must be missing something. Did the author come out in support of those two ladies in another article and you are carrying forward your apparent disgust to his other articles that have nothing to do with them?
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Michael Madrid's picture
Michael Madrid
Submitted by Michael Madrid on
 
Anyone want to bet that Sylvetta Mason and tmsyr11 are the same person?
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rahmiwati's picture
rahmiwati
Submitted by rahmiwati on
 
Hello, I guess it’s the way you look at the picture and then take it the way you want to look at it. Like life. I could be mad about it and negative or turn it into a positive and laugh about it.
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Michael Madrid's picture
Michael Madrid
Submitted by Michael Madrid on
 
Anyone want to bet that tmsyr11, Sylvetta Mason and rahmiwati are the same person?
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clinttawes's picture
clinttawes
Submitted by clinttawes on
 
rahmiwati, what you are saying is that there is nothing that is sacred to you. There is nothing, whether patriotic or religious, that would offend you to see it desecrated? If that’s the case, rather than lecture us that we should be so shallow as to not care about anything, you could try to empathize with human beings who do have a culture that they love and cherish so greatly that they cannot walk away from seeing it defiled or make something positive out of its disrespect. You might even want to do some reflection about what type of human being has nothing in his or her life of sufficient value to merit some outrage when others mistreat and/or misappropriate it.
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Washington Football Team
Redface
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Change the Name
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Simon Moya-Smith