As reported by ESPN: 50 U.S. senators sent a letter on Thursday to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell urging the league to change the Washington Redskins name.
In the letter the senators drew a parallel between the controversy surrounding the Washington Redskins name and NBA’s no-tolerance policy regarding handling of the now-banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
“Today, we urge you and the National Football League to send the same clear message as the NBA did: that racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports. It’s time for the NFL to endorse a name change for the Washington, D.C. football team.
“The despicable comments made by Mr. Sterling have opened up a national conversation about race relations. We believe this conversation is an opportunity for the NFL to take action to remove the racial slur from the name of one of its marquee franchises.”
However, Daniel Snyder, the Washington Redskins owner, opposes the name change and the NFL stood behind him through own response Thursday to the news of the senators’ letter. The league issued that response through NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy:
“We have not received the letter, but the NFL has long demonstrated a commitment to progressive leadership on issues of diversity and inclusion, both on and off the field. The intent of the team’s name has always been to present a strong, positive and respectful image. The team name is not used by the team or the NFL in any other context, though we respect those that view it differently.”
The Oneida Indian Nation has been pushing for the name change, and the nation’s CEO Ray Halbritter notes: “Washington team owner Dan Snyder and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell have claimed that using the R-word epithet somehow honors native peoples, but it is quite the opposite. The R-word is a dictionary defined racial slur.”
As ESPN reports, “Jackie Pata, the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, also weighed in Thursday.”
“The NFL is a global brand. But it wants to contribute to the positive image of the United States across the world rather than callously promoting discrimination against Native Americans, then it must stop promoting this slur and finally change the name.”
You can watch a news clip below, from ESPN:
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