Washington Redskins name controversy
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Note: This page covers events from 2009-2013. In 2022, the team changed their name to the Commanders.
2009 NIEA resolution
The National Indian Education Association passed a resolution calling for "the immediate elimination of race-based Indian logos, mascots, and names from educational institutions throughout the Nation." The largest association of American Indian students, parents, educators and administrators, the NIEA had research conducted, backing up their argument for the ban:[1]
| “ | WHEREAS, research conducted by Stephanie A. Fryberg finds;
WHEREAS, Dr. Fryberg’s research has been expanded upon and replicated in the social psychological
arena and the research base has grown in other academic fields; and |
” |
Chief Dodson
The Redskins brought in Maryland resident Stephen Dodson on May 3, 2013, who claimed to be an Inuit chief representing more than 700 of his tribe when he defended the teams' name during an interview with the team website, stating, "People are speaking for Native Americans that aren’t Native American. Being a full-blooded Indian with my whole family behind me, we had a big problem with all the things that were coming out [of the discussion]. I think they were basically saying that we were offended, our people were offended, and they were misrepresenting the Native American nation. We don’t have a problem with [the name] at all; in fact we’re honored. We’re quite honored." He said the term was used on reservations as a term of endearment, as opposed to a racial epithet.[3]
However, according to a report by the sports news website Deadspin on June 27, 2014, a person who identified herself as Dodson's sister claimed the title "Chief" was merely a nickname Dodson gave himself. She also said he was not a full blooded Native American and was only a small percentage Aleutian, not Inuit, claiming, "Somebody made a mistake and called him [Chief]. The Redskins went full steam ahead with it. They didn't check it because it was helping them." Kelly Eningowuk, director of an Alaskan Inuit organization, laughed off some of the references made by Dodson, suggesting, "I heard him say that [he and his family] go to pow wows? That’s not Aleut or inuit. And he talks about living on a reservation of some sort. There are no Inuit or Aleut reservations in Alaska."[4] Dodson responded to a request for comment saying, "I'm the son of a chief. I'm at the shaman level, a different type of chief. You're born into it, and the shaman chooses you. The shaman chose my father. I was born into it. The Dodson family, I'm the head of that family. The chief of that family."[4]
May 2013 congressional letter
On May 28, 2013, ten members of Congress signed a letter to the NFL and franchise owners across the league calling for the Redskins name to be changed. The letter was sent shortly after team owner Dan Snyder stated he would "never" change the name. The letter urged that due to the offensive nature of the team's name, it be changed, explaining, "Native Americans throughout the country consider the 'R-word' a racial, derogatory slur akin to the 'N-word' among African Americans or the 'W-word' among Latinos."[5]
The following members of Congress signed the letter.[5]
Tom Cole (R-OK)
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa)
Dan Snyder's letter to the fans
Team owner Dan Snyder wrote an open letter on October 9, 2013, directed toward the fans of the Redskins, stating his points as to why the name should remain. He touched on the team's historical background, writing, "As some of you may know, our team began 81 years ago -- in 1932 -- with the name “Boston Braves.” The following year, the franchise name was changed to the “Boston Redskins.” On that inaugural Redskins team, four players and our Head Coach were Native Americans. The name was never a label. It was, and continues to be, a badge of honor." He finished the letter stating, "I respect the opinions of those who disagree. I want them to know that I do hear them, and I will continue to listen and learn. But we cannot ignore our 81 year history, or the strong feelings of most of our fans as well as Native Americans throughout the country. After 81 years, the team name “Redskins” continues to hold the memories and meaning of where we came from, who we are, and who we want to be in the years to come. We are Redskins Nation and we owe it to our fans and coaches and players, past and present, to preserve that heritage."[6]
D.C. City Council resolution
On November 5, 2013, the Washington, D.C. City Council unanimously passed a resolution urging the team to change its name.[7][8] The resolution stated:
| “ | The Council of the District of Columbia is in an important position to acknowledge the controversy over our local NFL team’s name, and to urge the football team’s owners to end the controversy and rectify what many believe to be an insult by changing the name of the Washington NFL team. Changing the name of a National Football League franchise, while not a simple task, is the right and prudent thing to do in this case. The owner of the Washington NFL team is hereby urged to change the name of the football team to a name that is not offensive to Native Americans or any other ethnic group.[2] | ” |
| —D.C. City Council resolution[9] | ||
A resolution proposed in May 2013 was more strongly worded, calling the team name "derogatory" as well as "insulting and debasing," but the resolution didn't pass. The council had no legal standing over the team, however, as the team practices in Virginia and plays games in Maryland.[9] The Oneida Indian Nation released a statement following the resolution's passage, stating, "With its unanimous vote today, the D.C. City Council has placed itself firmly on the side of those who believe there should be no place for institutionalized racism within the National Football League. This City Council resolution is yet another call for Washington's team owner to do the right thing by halting the callous use of the R-word and moving the team in a positive direction away from its past legacy of racial bigotry."[8]
Code Talkers at Monday Night Football
The Redskins honored Native American Code Talkers from World War II on November 26, 2013, during a Monday Night Football game. Snyder said the organization brought the Code Talkers to the game in celebration of the NFL's "Salute to Service" month and Native American Heritage Month.[10] Dave Zirin, a columnist for The Nation, criticized the action, stating, "It does not take a code talker to crack this particular code. Dan Snyder is on the wrong side of history, and his legacy will be more than just year after year of the lousy-to-mediocre football his stewardship has brought. His legacy will be to stand with George Preston Marshall, Tom Yawkey and Kenesaw Mountain Landis on the Mount Rushmore on sports leaders who looked at the idea of racial progress and just said no."[11]
Oneida Indian Nation radio ads
| Members of the "Change the Mascot" campaign state their case. |
On Thanksgiving Day 2014, the Oneida Indian Nation released radio ads played in Baltimore and Detroit, where games were being hosted on the holiday, raising awareness for their "Change the Mascot" campaign and thanking their supporters as they try to rid the country of mascots depicting Native Americans. The ad stated, "Thanksgiving is a holiday emphasizing the ideals of inclusion and mutual respect, and is a time when we give thanks. We would like to express our appreciation to everyone who has spoken out about the important moral and civil rights issue of changing the Washington football team’s name. Change the Mascot supporters have sent a powerful message to the NFL that no group deserves to be treated as the target of a hurtful racial slur, and that Native Americans should be treated as what we are: Americans.”[12]
The group also released a video on Youtube, highlighting the "Change the Mascot" campaign.[13]
50 sign letters in May 2014
Fifty Democratic senators signed letters to the NFL on May 22, 2014, urging the league to take action on changing the name of the Washington Redskins. The five senators who did not sign the letter were, Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Mark Pryor (D-AR). One letter, signed by 49 of the senators argued, "Now is the time for the NFL to act," the letter said. "The Washington, D.C. football team is on the wrong side of history. What message does it send to punish slurs against African Americans while endorsing slurs against Native Americans?"[14]
Radio station license challenge
John Banzhaf, law professor at George Washington University, opened a case on September 2, 2014, against team owner Dan Snyder with the Federal Communications Commission over a license the team had for a radio station broadcast that contained the word "Redskins." Banzhaf argued that under the FCC's "obscenity" rules, the station should no longer be allowed its license. He claimed that prior FCC commissioners set a precedent against racial terms and that the rule was that "the unnecessary and repeated on-air use of that derogatory racist word is contrary to current federal law and akin to broadcasting obscenity."[15]
While FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler stated in response on September 10, 2014, "I don't use the term personally and I think it is offensive and derogatory," he also would not commit to using the power of the FCC to force a name change. He explained, "I think it would be great if the Washington football team would recognize those kinds of changes itself. I hope that this is something that if enough people express themselves, Dan Snyder can see which way things are going."[16]
Groups call for end of "Redskins"
More than 100 nonprofit groups signed a letter September 4, 2014, to broadcasters of NFL games, insisting that the television stations don't use the word "Redskins." The groups, including Common Cause and the NAACP claimed that due to the name's racial nature, the stations should not use it. The letter read, in part, "We are writing to ask you to join other media organizations in refusing to broadcast the Washington team’s name on the public airwaves. The team’s name is a dictionary-defined racial slur... Throughout history, this term has been used to disparage Native Americans. It is the term used by bounty hunters to describe bloody Native scalps, and it was the epithet screamed at Native Americans as they were dragged at gunpoint off their lands." The letter was released on the opening day of the NFL season.[17]
Notable opposition to the name
Following is a list of people who stated their opposition to the Washington Redskins' name.
- Actor and former Redskin player Terry Crews[18]
- Former NFL referee Mike Carey[19]
- Hall of Famers and former Redskins Art Monk and Darrell Green[20]
- News publications The Washington Post editorials[21], DCist[22] and Slate[23]
- Television host Larry King[24]
- Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer[25]
Timeline
- May 22, 2013
USA Today noted that when asked if he would consider changing the name from Redskins, team owner Dan Snyder stated, "We will never change the name of the team. As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it's all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season." Even when confronted by the idea that the trademark would be removed, Snyder asserted, "We'll never change the name. It's that simple. NEVER — you can use caps."[26]
- October 5, 2013
- President Barack Obama
- October 13, 2013
- October 18, 2013
- May 22, 2014
- May 28, 2014
Other notable name changes
| Major university mascot changes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University | Mascot change | Year changed | ||||||
| Stanford University | Indians to Cardinal | 1972 | ||||||
| Dartmouth | Indians to Big Green | 1974 | ||||||
| Siena | Indians to Saints | 1988 | ||||||
| Eastern Michigan | Hurons to Eagles | 1991 | ||||||
| St. John’s (N.Y.) | Redmen to Red Storm | 1994 | ||||||
| Marquette | Warriors to Golden Eagles | 1994 | ||||||
| Miami (Ohio) | Redskins to RedHawks | 1997 | ||||||
| Seattle University | Chieftains to Redhawks | 2000 | ||||||
| Louisiana-Monroe | Indians to Warhawks | 2006 | ||||||
| Arkansas State | Indians to Red Wolves | 2008 | ||||||
| North Dakota | Dropped Fighting Sioux (no current) | 2012 | ||||||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Washington + Redskins + controversy
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ NIEA, "Resolutions 2009," accessed August 27, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Redskins.com, "Native American Chief Talks About Redskins," May 3, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Deadspin, "Redskins' Indian-Chief Defender: Not A Chief, Probably Not Indian," June 27, 2013
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 NFL.com, "Redskins name change? Congressmen urge Dan Snyder," May 28, 2013
- ↑ Washington Post, "Letter from Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder to fans," October 9, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "D.C. Council calls on Washington Redskins to ditch ‘racist and derogatory’ name," November 5, 2013
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Benzinga, "Oneida Indian Nation Praises D.C. City Council for Taking Strong Stand Against Offensive Name of Washington's NFL Team," November 5, 2013
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Washington Post, "Redskins name-change resolution will get D.C. Council vote Tuesday," October 31, 2013
- ↑ USA Today, "Redskins criticized over Code Talkers appearance," November 26, 2013
- ↑ The Nation, "Redskins Owner Dan Snyder Says ‘Some of My Best Friends Are Navajo Code Talkers!’," November 26, 2013
- ↑ Pro Football Talk, "Oneida Indian Nation to air Thanksgiving radio ads in Detroit and Baltimore," November 26, 2013
- ↑ Deadspin, "Native American Tribal Leaders Call On Redskins To Change Their Name," November 26, 2014
- ↑ USA Today, "50 senators sign letter urging Redskins to change team name," May 22, 2014
- ↑ Broadcasting and Cable, "Exclusive: Snyder's WWXX-FM License Challenged Over 'Redskins'," September 2, 2014
- ↑ Broadcasting and Cable, "FCC's Wheeler: 'Redskins' Name Is Offensive, Should Go," September 10, 2014
- ↑ Broadcasting and Cable, "Groups Ask Broadcasters to Eschew Use of Redskins," September 3, 2014
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Former Redskin Terry Crews thinks team should change its name," September 11, 2014
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Mike Carey, longtime NFL referee, avoided Washington’s games because of the name," August 20, 2014
- ↑ Profootballtalk, "Art Monk, Darrell Green think Redskins should consider name change," July 23, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Washington Post editorials will no longer use ‘Redskins’ for the local NFL team," August 22, 2014
- ↑ DCist, "We Are Very Proud to Omit the Name of the Local NFL Team," February 11, 2013
- ↑ Slate, "The Washington _________," August 8, 2013
- ↑ USA Today, "Larry King doesn't understand why Dan Snyder won't change the Redskins' name," June 17, 2014
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Charles Krauthammer: Redskins and reason," October 17, 2013
- ↑ USA Today, "Daniel Snyder says Redskins will never change name," May 10, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Obama: ‘I’d think about changing’ Washington Redskins team name," October 5, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Charles Krauthammer: Redskins and reason," October 13, 2013
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Bob Costas: Why 'Redskins' is racist," October 18, 2013
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 The Washington Post, "Senate Democrats urge NFL to endorse name change for Redskins," May 28, 2014
