Congresswoman blasts new poll about Redskins name
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Minnesota congresswoman Betty McCollum released a statement Thursday criticizing a new poll conducted by The Washington Post about the Washington Redskins’ name.
The poll, released Thursday, claims nine in 10 Native Americans do not find the term “Redskins” offensive. Seven out of 10 respondents said they didn’t feel the word Redskin is disrespectful to Native Americans, and eight out of 10 said they would not be offended if a non-Native American person called them a Redskin.
The poll surveyed 504 Native Americans from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Rep. McCollum says the poll fails to answer the “moral question” surrounding the name Redskins.
The controversy surrounding the Redskins’ name has grown over the past couple years. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled Washington’s trademark on the nickname in 2014 on the grounds that it was “disparaging to Native Americans.”
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The team asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case last month.
