And now let's play "Name That Party": Legislators call on Redskins to drop 'R-word', claim it's as offensive as "Nigger" or "Wetback"

MAY 29, 2013

Letter calls team name a 'racial, derogatory slur'

Members of Congress are turning up the heat on Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder in an attempt to get him change the team's nickname.

Snyder, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the other 31 team owners and FexEx president and CEO Frederick Smith, whose company has naming rights to the Redskins' stadium, were sent a letter from 10 U.S. representatives requesting the team abandon a name that "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."

"Such offensive epithets would no doubt draw widespread disapproval among the NFL's fan base," the letter stated. "Yet the national coverage of Washington's NFL football team profits from a term that is equally disparaging to Native Americans."

The representatives who authored the letter were Eni F.H. Faleomavaega from American Samoa, Tom Cole of Oklahoma, Betty McCollum of Minnesota, Raul M. Grijalva of Arizona, Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, Donna M. Christensen of the Virginia Islands, Zoe Lofgren, Michael M. Honda and Barbara Lee of California, and Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia.

Snyder has vowed never to change the name.

The team had no comment on Tuesday, but Redskins general manager Bruce Allen said last week, "I think it's a non-issue and it's been a non-issue for decades. We really don't get the talk that other people get because we hear from our fans. And our fans will always be our fans of the Washington Redskins."

The letter went on to say, "In this day and age, it is imperative that you uphold your moral responsibility to disavow the usage of racial slurs. The usage of the (R-word) is especially harmful to Native American youth, tending to lower their sense of dignity and self-esteem. It also diminishes feelings of community worth among the Native American tribes and dampens the aspirations of their people."


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