“This change is long overdue. For generations, the Washington football franchise played on the largest of sports stages while identifying with an overtly racist and offensive name. Native people deserve better. There is absolutely no acceptable place in our society, much less in the nation’s capital, for names and imagery that degrade, mock, and offend Native traditions, Native culture, and Native people. Whatever the team’s motivation, I am happy that the owners have finally gotten to a point where their fans in Washington, across the country and around the world can identify with a team whose name reflects something far more positive than the continued use of a shameful slur. I hope that the team will engage the Native American community in a meaningful way as they create a new identity. I also hope that other organizations and institutions at every level across the country heed the call for positive change and move swiftly to recreate their identities in ways that promote tolerance and understanding rather than perpetuate the pain and sting of degradation against Native people.”
