NBA Player Kevin Durant taken to task over Washington Football Team Shirt #proxyracism

The American Indian Movement of Central Texas took offense to NBA star Kevin Durant’s photo posted to his Facebook page wearing the Washington Pro Football team’s offensive and racist name.

“So Kevin Durant plays for a NBA team located in Oklahoma….home to many proud native people…and he has the audacity to wear this jersey and post this comment??? NDN people who are fans of this idiot should wake up and realized Durant has joined Robert Griffin III and has become the white man’s house negro!!!!!” – Aim CentralTexas Ctx”

Others posted to his photo expressing their disappointment that one person of color could engage in promoting racism directed at another person of color.

“Kevin do you know the History behind that name? Is Racist! White Cowboys would Scalp any Native American and turn my peoples body parts in to the US Gov for money. The US Gov called the Scalps Red Skins.” – Joseph White Eyes

In a 2014 interview, activist Amanda Blackhorse commented:

The name itself actually dates back, you know, at the time when the Native American population was being exterminated, and bounty hunters were hired to kill Native American people. And so, you know, one could make a great living off of just killing Native American people. And there was a tier effect that was paid out. You know, the highest paid was for a Native American man and then a woman and then a child. And so, based off of that, there were news clippings and flyers and stuff that were posted up, asking people to go out to kill Indians and bring back the red skin. So, in order to show that they made their kill, they had to bring back a scalp or their skin. And so, that’s where the “Redskin” word has been kind of passed down. So, in our community, we do not use that word.