By Stephen Bryen
Target has pulled Redskins merchandise from its stores. Why exactly? To pander to American Indians? Or to misguided liberals who don’t go to football games? To be PC? To be Woke?
Target is welcome to have whatever opinions it wants to have, and consumers who want Redskins paraphernalia can buy it elsewhere (assuming of course that anyone wants the stuff).
I have no brief for the Redskins. Firstly because they are an awful team. Secondly because their owner gouges anyone who goes to a Redskins game (although mostly before COVID-19 the team was so bad no one wanted to go there and tickets were so heavily discounted that team owner Dan Snyder’s biggest stadium revenue came from the $25 he over-charged for parking).
Thirdly the name is offensive because it describes a skin color. Suppose they were called the Blackskins or the Yellowskins? That would stink wouldn’t it, so calling the team Redskins is wrong too.
Snyder has been fighting a name change for years, even hiring American Indians to say they were not offended and loved the Redskins.
It is hard to use a racial name these days and get away with it. Snyder has been getting away with it. And the President should have stayed out of the matter, only making things worse.
But what about Target?
Target “forgot” to pull Cleveland Indians merchandise, or Atlanta Braves shirts, or gear from the Kansas City Chiefs. (Speaking personally I would urge them to junk Cowboy’s stuff, the Redskin’s arch rival, on the grounds that Cowboys are just Americans wearing boots and over-sized hats.)
Target sells cheap merchandise from China made by sometimes underpaid enslaved or abused labor. That, however, appears to not touch the conscience of the Target executives.
Target also sells junk from assorted sweatshops in Asia and elsewhere. More junk, more human rights abuses, more awful.
How come Target doesn’t get rid of the stuff made in China? And while Target is considering the matter, perhaps Target ought to consider what China is doing to Christians, to minorities like the Uighur’s and Tibetan’s, and denying freedom to their own people (arresting dissidents in the night, disappearances, and other abuses). If Target really wanted to be on Target, perhaps these considerations should have dawned on their Woke Executives.
How about Target selling only American made products! Perish the thought. Jobs for Americans?
Target’s executives need to go to a human rights reeducation camp. (Oh, we don’t have those, but these days it would be nice if all Americans took a course in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.)
Target misses the real target. Not surprising, but sad.
