If Washington executive V.P. of football operations Bruce Allen had said anything other than “no” when asked whether the franchise would consider a name change if it meant getting a new stadium in D.C., the response from those who oppose the name would have been, “Washington wavers on name of team!”
But there’s still a response to Allen’s comments from the Change the Mascot movement, a group that consists of the National Congress of American Indians, the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc., and the Oneida Indian Nation. And it’s fairly strongly worded, with a slap at Allen’s understated offseason demotion-promotion from G.M.
“The team and its leaders are so obsessed with clinging to a dictionary-defined racial slur that they are willing to abandon their hometown and local fans in order to continue degrading Native Americans,” Change the Mascot chairman Joel Barkin said in a release. “Now that Bruce Allen has been relieved of day-to-day responsibilities as General Manager he must have a lot of free time on his hands to double down on this racist moniker and try to figure out what to do about Native Americans returning donations from the team. Unfortunately, Bruce Allen, team owner Dan Snyder and the Washington team fail to understand that you cannot buy acceptance of continued racism. The NFL, Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the other owners should immediately step forward now that the Washington team is publicly declaring its willingness to abandon Washington in order to retain its racial slur mascot.”
Of course, the franchise already has “abandoned” its hometown by moving to Maryland. The question posed to Allen earlier today is whether the team would consider changing the name in order to build its next stadium in the District of Columbia, as opposed to constructing a venue in a nearby community in Maryland or Virginia.
The debate over the name undoubtedly will continue until the name is changed, and then likely for decades after a new name emerges -- with folks displaying the old name and logo like Confederate flags flown from the back of a pickup truck.