The Washington Redskins have launched a “thorough review” of the team’s name, the NFL franchise said on Friday, as sponsors stepped up pressure to scrap a name that some say is racist.
“In light of recent events around our country and feedback from our community, the Washington Redskins are announcing the team will undergo a thorough review of the team’s name,” the team said in a statement just 24 hours after stadium sponsor FedEx demanded a name change. “This review formalizes the initial discussions the team has been having with the league in recent weeks.”
Redskins owner Dan Snyder had long been resistant to changing the team’s name.
Photo: Reuters
“We’ll never change the name,” Snyder said in 2018. “It’s that simple. Never — you can use caps.”
However, on Thursday, US delivery giant FedEx Corp — which paid US$205 million to the Redskins in 1998 for the naming rights to the team’s suburban stadium — confirmed it had sought a change.
“We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name,” FedEx said in a one-sentence statement.
Reports this week said that FedEx, Nike and PepsiCo all received letters from 87 investment firms asking the companies and others to sever ties with the Redskins over the name.
The corporate pressure on the Redskins was welcomed by Change the Mascot, a coalition of Native American groups that has campaigned to get rid of the nickname.
“Change the Mascot praises FedEx and fully supports its historic request for Washington’s NFL team to stop using the R-word racial slur as its name and mascot,” coalition leader Ray Halbritter said.
Snyder said that the team planned to canvass opinion from across the community in its name change review.
“This process allows the team to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise, but also input from our alumni, the organization, sponsors, the NFL and the local community it is proud to represent on and off the field,” Snyder said.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell welcomed the move.
“In the last few weeks we have had ongoing discussions with Dan and we are supportive of this important step,” Goodell said in a statement.
Later on Friday, MLB’s Cleveland Indians announced that they would “determine the best path forward” regarding their team name.
They have been known as the Cleveland Indians since 1915.
“We are committed to making a positive impact in our community and embrace our responsibility to advance social justice and equality,” the team said in a statement. “Our organization fully recognizes our team name is among the most visible ways in which we connect with the community.”
The team said it was looking to do the right thing in changing times.
“We have had ongoing discussions organizationally on these issues,” the Indians said. “The recent social unrest in our community and our country has only underscored the need for us to keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice. With that in mind, we are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name.”
In Canada, the Edmonton Eskimos are to keep their team name.
The Canadian Football League team said that it is keeping the Eskimos name following “an extensive year-long formal research and engagement program with Inuit leaders and community members across Canada.”
“The consistent feedback was a desire for more engagement with the club,” the team said in a statement. “There were a range of views regarding the club’s name, but no consensus emerged to support a name change. The club has therefore decided to retain its name.”
The Eskimos said their research and engagement program “included meetings with Inuit leaders and community leaders in Iqaluit, Inuvik, Yellowknife and Ottawa; and a research phase with a combination of in-depth interviews with Inuit across the north and in Edmonton, and a telephone survey among a broad group of Inuit across Canada.”
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