Letter to NFL from Native American Leaders Calls for Immediate Ban on Name

Several leaders of the fight against the DMV area's NFL team have wrote a strongly worded letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell demanding immediate action and change.

A copy of this letter was sent to the publisher of this site (Chris Russell) and is copied below for all fans and observers to read.

July 6, 2020

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

Roger Goodell, Commissioner

National Football League

280 Park Avenue New York, NY 10017

roger.goodell@nfl.com

Dear Mr. Goodell,

The undersigned are Native American leaders and organizations that have worked tirelessly and substantively for over half a century to change the racist name of the Washington team. We appreciate the statements made in recent days regarding the league and the team’s intention to revisit the name, but we are deeply concerned that the process or decision to rename is being made in absence of any discussion with the concerned leadership.

Specifically, we, the undersigned, request that the NFL immediately:

1. Require the Washington NFL team (Owner- Dan Snyder) to immediately change the name R*dsk*ns, a dictionary defined racial slur for Native Peoples.

2. Require the Washington team to immediately cease the use of racialized Native American branding by eliminating any and all imagery of or evocative of Native American culture, traditions, and spirituality from their team franchise including the logo. This includes the use of Native terms, feathers, arrows, or monikers that assume the presence of Native American culture, as well as any characterization of any physical attributes.

3. Cease the use of the 2016 Washington Post Poll and the 2004 National Annenberg Election Survey which have been repeatedly used by the franchise and supporters to rationalize the use of the racist r-word name. These surveys were not academically vetted and were called unethical and inaccurate by the Native American Journalist Association as well as deemed damaging by other prominent organizations that represent Native Peoples. The NFL team must be held accountable to the various research studies conducted by scientists and scholars which find stereotypical images, names and the like are harmful to Native youth and the continued progress of the wellbeing of Native Peoples.

4. Cease the use of the offensive, racial slur name “R*dsk*ns” immediately, and encourage journalists, writers and reporters to use the term in print only by using asterisks “R*dsk*ns” and to refer to the term verbally as the “r-word”.

5. Ban all use of Native imagery, names, slur names, redface, appropriation of Native culture and spiritually as well as violence toward Native Peoples from the League.

6. Apply the NFL’s “zero tolerance” for on-field use of racial and homophobic slurs to all races and ethnic groups, especially Native Peoples.

7. Complete a full rebranding of the Washington team name, logo, mascot, and color scheme, to ensure that continuing harm is not perpetuated by anyone. Finally, we note that the above items are non-negotiable and not subject to consultation or dialogue “processes”, however, we expect the NFL to engage in a robust, meaningful reconciliation process with Native American movement leaders, tribes, and organizations to repair the decades of emotional violence and other serious harms this racist team name has caused to Native Peoples.

Sincerely, Suzan Shown Harjo, Lead Plaintiff, Harjo v. Pro Football, Inc; President, The Morning Star Institute; Former Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians

Amanda Blackhorse, Lead Plaintiff, Blackhorse v. Pro Football, Inc.

S. James Anaya, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2008-2015; Dean and University Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado Law School

Jodi Archambault, Special Assistant to the President, White House Domestic Policy Council, 2009-2015

Notah Begay, PGA TOUR winner, Founder, NB3 Foundation

Joann K. Chase, Former Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians

Philip J. Deloria, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Harvard University, and Author, Playing Indian and Indians in Unexpected Places

Keith Doxtator, Trust Director, Oneida Nation

Crystal Echohawk, Executive Director, Illuminative

Carla F. Fredericks, Director, First Peoples Worldwide

Stephanie Fryberg, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan, Co-Author, Unpacking the Mascot Debate: Native American Identification Predicts Opposition to Native Mascots

A couple of things jump out:

In the 2nd request - the group is making sure that they make it known that the logo and shield is not excluded from their demands.

"Immediately cease the use of racialized Native American branding by eliminating any and all imagery of or evocative of Native American culture, traditions, and spirituality from their team franchise including the logo. This includes the use of Native terms, feathers, arrows, or monikers that assume the presence of Native American culture, as well as any characterization of any physical attributes."

The Washington NFL franchise would like to keep not only the colors but also some sort of Native American imagery, as was reported here on this site (Saturday afternoon and as Ron Rivera said in the Washington Post (Saturday night).

You can dismiss this all you want but nobody should have any level of trust that the organization is going to completely divorce themselves from not only the name but the logo and any Native American imagery.

My feeling is that they are going to push through this quickly and in a likely reckless manner and could wind up dealing this issue forever, if they choose to 'honor' anyone with any connection to the old name.

In the 3rd request - they completely dismissed the Washington Post poll that everyone so readily ate up as fact. I've never believed that 504 people should speak for around six million but I have no power.

Lastly, they are asking all media outlets and reporters to only refer to the team in print as “R*dsk*ns”.

I don't know what to call them - I'm thoroughly confused and completely exhausted. I just want this entire drama to go away. I am going to call them what each one of my employers wants me to call them. Period.

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Chris Russell is the Publisher of this site, a part of SI.com. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.