Like many Jews, I’m a traditionalist at heart. But sorry, Tevye, even I can recognize when tradition is used as an excuse to continue bad practices.
I’m also a huge sports fan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t accept the long overdue need to change certain teams’ names and logos.
Just seven years after Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder proclaimed that the team’s name would “never” change, the pied piper has finally come calling. In the face of racial justice, the very wrongness of such obstinacy has been exposed.
It’s only sad that it wasn’t moral quandary that caused the NFL and Washington ownership finally to acknowledge the possibility of a name change, but financial pressure.
I’ve always been uncomfortable with these racially-based team identities, but before coming down strongly on one side, I tried to put myself in the shoes of Native Americans. What if there were a team called “The Jews?” Would I be offended? Or would I feel it was a sign of respect (what those who oppose the name change claim)?
I recalled that in Europe there are at least three top-tier soccer clubs known as “Jewish” teams. WW II mostly eradicated the “Jewish” connection to Bayern Munich, but Tottenham Hot Spurs (London) fans are still called the “Yid Army” and Ajax (Amsterdam) fans wave Israeli flags.
While there’s a fun and quirky angle to this Jewish connection, it most often manifests in anti-Semitism from rival fans. Think: chants invoking Holocaust imagery and Nazi salutes.
There has even been physical violence when things flare up between Gaza and Israel. And the term Judenklub in Germany was historically used as a racial slur.
As with the Redskins, many Spurs and Ajax fans rebel against the removal of the Jewish connection (though neither team has many Jewish fans anymore). The difference is that the association is informal; with the Redskins, the association is formal. The team structure can easily make this change — and should.
They may find a bigger challenge: choosing the right moniker for a flailing team. Pick too aspirational a name (say, the Warriors) and rival pundits and fans will have a field day ripping them to shreds.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected]
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