50 U.S. Senators Demand Change to ‘Redskins’ Name in Letter to NFL
Fifty United States Senators have called for a change to change the name of the Washington Redskins in a letter to National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell released Thursday. The letter, first reported by the New York Times, cites the NBA’s swift action against the racism of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and asks Goodell and the NFL to take similar action against a name Native American activists call a “dictionary-defined slur.”
The letter echoes the remarks Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made on the Senate floor immediately after the NBA announced that it would ban Sterling, who made racist comments about African Americans, for life and would seek to force a sale of the team.
“Today, we urge you and the National Football League to send the same clear message as the NBA did: that racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports. It’s time for the NFL to endorse a name change for the Washington, D.C. football team,” the letter states.
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