Could the Washington Redskins Come Back?
Is it too much to hope for?
Last year around this time, I bade farewell to the Washington Redskins:
A Farewell to the Redskins
As the 2022 NFL season begins its starting weeks, I wanted to reflect on the loss of a favorite team. Yes, I know there is a still a Washington team who called themselves “Football Team” for a few years before finally deciding on “Commanders” as a name. This is not a bad name in and of itself, but I cannot accept it as the reasons for making the change …
The changing of their honored name was a step too far for me to take and remain a fan. I would no longer waste my time with an NFL team that has abandoned its 85-year-old tradition of honoring the American Indian in favor of some new, generic, non-offensive name, the Commanders. I mourned the loss and got over it, choosing instead to follow other teams that I liked, including the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills.
Then this summer came news of new ownership taking over the team. I heard that the principal owner, Josh Harris, grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland and was a life-long fan of the Redskins. This sparked a slight hope, but also a throbbing of an old scab. Some news stories suggested that another name change was in the realm of possibilities, and that maybe, just maybe, they could go back to their old name.
Then, I started to see a petition going around on Facebook from an organization named the “Native American Guardians Association,” demanding the return of the Redskins name to the team. Last week, the Daily Caller reported that this petition had reached 100,000 signatures!
I suspect that this is the true voice of the Redskins fans. (It would also be interesting to see how many signatures they could collect to keep “Commanders” as the name. I might just run out of fingers when counting them up.)
Mr. Harris has stated in so many words that the team belongs to the fans and that he is merely its steward. We’ll have to see if he really means this.
They didn’t or don’t need to change the “Redskin” name. Just need to change their logo to a potato. Problem solved
Although I don't really care that much about this and it's probably in the scheme of things not a huge deal. I do think it's worth considering that "Redskin" has in the past been a pejorative remark, and while many Native Americans are not offended by it, many are.
https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/02/04/native-mascots-survey
And there were petitions to change the name all the way back to 1968, which was soon after the franchise began. Granted it's the owner of the franchise and the NFL's decision ultimately and there are certainly more pressing issues regarding Native Americans, particularly the poverty and terrible conditions on many reservations. However I do think it's worth considering what the majority of Native Americans think with regards to the team name.