Man swaps ‘Redskins’ logo for ‘Caucasians’—and watches white people get offended

Sometimes, to see a situation from another person’s perspective, we need to put ourselves in their place and “walk” in their shoes. Unfortunately, this strategy to get people to show basic empathy doesn’t always work.

Take this social experiment from Frederick Joseph, founder of inclusive marketing agency We Have Stories, in which he swapped the Redskins football team logo—a stereotypical Native American in headdress, which has long been deemed racist—for a “Caucasian” man. While he did manage to offend a few white people by showing them what it feels like for your race to be made into a mascot, he didn’t exactly get the end result you’d hope for. Not at all.

On Twitter, Joseph, who is Black, shared that he had gone out last weekend wearing the shirt, figuring he would catch people by surprise. It featured the term “Caucasians” in the style of the football team font, along with a side-profile illustration of a white man with brown hair, and was supposed to show others how it looks for someone to use such a “racially charged” logo for a brand. He pointed out that unlike the term “redskins,” “Caucasians” isn’t remotely rude toward white people, like the bristling terms “crackers” and “honkies.”