McGill University Drops ‘Redmen’ Nickname After Students Call It Racist

McGill University in Montreal, Canada, has announced that they will be ending the use of its “Redmen” nickname after the community argued that it advances an offensive stereotype.

McGill University announced last week that they will be dropping the “Redmen” nickname. The decision comes after a series of community discussions in which students and faculty made the case that the nickname perpetuated a racist stereotype against Indigenous Canadians.

McGill University Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanna Fortier released a statement explaining the university’s decision to get rid of the nickname, which was first adopted in 1928. Fortier argued, even though “Redmen” did not originally refer to Indigenous people, that the nickname now has a “prejudicial effect.”

At the same time, I have learned about the true depths of the pain caused by the Redmen name. I have heard from Indigenous students at McGill who feel alienated by the name. They feel disrespected and unconsidered. They feel conflicted over their rightful pride in being Indigenous people, and their pride in being McGill students. This tension is even stronger for Indigenous student-athletes…

Neither language, nor perceptions of language, are fixed; they change as the world changes. McGill did not adopt the Redmen name as a reference to North American Indigenous peoples. However, the name has been associated with Indigenous peoples at different points in our history. Today, “Redmen” is widely acknowledged as an offensive term for Indigenous peoples, as evidenced by major English dictionaries. While this derogatory meaning of the word does not reflect the beliefs of generations of McGill athletes who have proudly competed wearing the University’s colours, we cannot ignore this contemporary understanding. Intention, however benign, does not negate prejudicial effect. Inclusion and respect are at the core of our University’s principles and values; pejoratives run contrary to who we are as a community.

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