The McGill Red Line

Redman

McGill University has finally buckled and agreed to change the name of their men’s sports teams, the “McGill Redmen.” Supposedly, this is offensive to Canada’s First Nations. 

This action seems unnecessary on multiple grounds:

1. There is no reason to take the name as a reference to Canada’s First Nations. Historically, it appears that it developed as a reference to the team colours; like the University of Toronto Blues, the Harvard Crimson, or the Syracuse Orangemen. Naming teams after the uniform colours is a local tradition: Laval Rouge et Or, Sherbrooke Vert et Or, Montreal Maroons, Ottawa RedBlacks.

2. There is no reason to take “redmen,” even if it did refer to indigenous Canadians, as an insult. It is still just a colour. Historically, it seems to have originated with the Indians themselves, and was then adopted by Europeans. To say it is an insult is to say implicitly that someone should be insulted to be called an Indian. That is racist.

3. It is bizarre to claim that anyone deliberately names their own sports team something insulting. Does anyone really want to insult their local heroes? Just the reverse. Nobody thinks calling the Queen’s team the “Golden Gaels” demeans the Scots, or calling the Notre Dame teams the “Fighting Irish” is a slight on the Irish. Least of all the Irish. It is racism to see aboriginals differently here.

4. There is no evidence real Canadian Indians see anything wrong with the name. Nobody ever asks them. Real Indians tend to be football fans, and are likely to cherish the sport’s traditions as much as anyone. When somebody did a survey in the US of how actual Indians felt about the “Washington Redskins” name, 90% did not want a name change. When the Edmonton Eskimos, under pressure, went to Inuit communities to ask the locals about their moniker, they found no consensus against it.

5. The name given to a sports team cannot harm anyone. If this is a problem for you, you live a privileged life.

In sum, this name change has nothing to do with concern or consideration for First Nations. It is a case of wanting to wreck established traditions for its own sake. It is reminiscent of China’s Cultural Revolution, or the Khmer Rouge’s Killing Fields: a thing is bad simply because it is old, and represents the general culture, which is bad. By this ideology—a mad theory—if we destroyed civilization, we would be back in the Garden of Eden. Evil and sin are not inherent in mankind, but imposed on us by culture.

This position includes an obvious logical flaw: if mankind is inherently and instinctively good, how did evil ever enter the world? If it was introduced, say, by evil rich capitalists, or the kulaks, are they not also human? What sinister alien force destroyed their own original innocence?

The conventional answer, of course, is: some of our neighbours are not, actually, human. The Jews, perhaps. We can see that one on the horizon already. Or, if that is too clichéd, cis white males. Choose a despised minority, and off you go.

I suspect this idea of original innocence is itself only an alibi. It masks two less creditable desires. First, the urge to ignore right and wrong in favour of indulging one’s will. With civilization comes the social requirement to act morally. Second, the deadly vice of envy: any great accomplishment, and any great men, must be pulled down and trampled, because it is something you did not do. It is always easier to destroy than to create.

But turning to more cheerful thoughts, the name of a sports team is trivial. Lamentable that this vile disease of envy has struck Canada, which starts out with a severe deficit of shared history and shared traditions; each one we lose brings us nearer to killing one another in the streets. But it is still, in itself, trivial. And despite the proud associations that have adhered through the years to the name “redmen,” the name itself is hardly inspired. Perhaps we can do better.

Any new name must take into account the established team colours. It would be yet more unreasonable to demand that they too be changed.

Here are a few suggestions:

McGill Red Line
McGill Red Watch
McGill Red Guard
McGill Grenadiers
McGill Fencibles

100th (Dublin) Regiment of Foot, as they appeared during the War of 1812.

All of these rely on the red team colour matching that of the old traditional British army uniform. Which feels like a neat analogy for a football team. McGill at its founding, after all, was an outpost of “British North America” and the far-flung “thin red line.” If Francophone Quebeckers take offense at what they see as a too-distinctly English rather than Canadian reference, no problem. Simply point out that it has already been clearly established that naming them after British soldiery is an insult.

Redmen firing in a reenactment at Toronto's Fort York.