Matthew McConaughey: Racist Team Name "Gives Me Some Oomph"
Matthew McConaughey, actor, chest-thumper, and true detective, has done some serious ethical calculus regarding the name of Washington D.C.'s football team. And after weighing the history of "redskin" as an ethnic slur against the "little bit of fire and some oomph" the team's emblem brings, he's made his final decision: The name stands.
The question came up in an interview for GQ's November cover story, where McConaughey, who is from Texas, also explained the deep roots and rich cultural heritage of his own Redskins fandom:
First: 4 years old, watching Westerns, I always rooted for the Indians. Second, my favorite food was hamburgers. The Redskins had a linebacker named Chris Hanburger.
When you're 4 years old, that's all it takes. I got a Redskins hat in my bag right now.
It's cool, Indians. He's on your side. And he knows you're secretly not offended, no matter what you might say in public.
I know a lot of Native Americans don't have a problem with it, but they're not going to say, "No, we really want the name." That's not how they're going to use their pulpit.
And why would they? It's not like it has grotesque historical connotations, or anything. Changing the name is just some liberal bandwagon issue that inexplicably became trendy this year:
"What interests me is how quickly it got pushed into the social consciousness. We were all fine with it since the 1930s, and all of a sudden we go, 'No, gotta change it'? It seems like when the first levee breaks, everybody gets on board. I love the emblem. I dig it. It gives me a little fire and some oomph. But now that it's in the court of public opinion, it's going to change. I wish it wouldn't, but it will."
This is not alright, alright, alright, Matthew McConaughey. You're basically acting like one of the white panelists on the Daily Show's Redskins segment, but handsomer, better at acting, and with an uncritical platform in a major men's magazine. Stop that.
[h/t USA Today, Photo of McConaughey with RGIII via AP Images]