US senators wade into Redskins debate
US senators have written to the National Football League (NFL) urging it to endorse a name change for a football team embroiled in a trademark row, citing “racism” and “bigotry”.
The 50 senators, all members of the Democrat party, have said the Washington Redskins name should be changed to show that the NFL is against racism.
A ‘redskin’ is an offensive term for a Native American.
The news comes as a decision is expected imminently on whether the team should be stripped of its trademark.
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) at the US Patent and Trademark Office is reviewing the trademark for the term ‘Redskins’ following opposition from a group of Native Americans.
If it is deemed offensive and the trademark is revoked, the club could lose out on valuable merchandising as the term would no longer be protected.
“It’s time for the NFL to endorse a name change for the Washington, DC football team,” the senators wrote in the letter sent to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday, May 22.
“The Washington, DC football team is on the wrong side of history. What message does it send … endorsing slurs against Native Americans?” the letter said.
In recent months WIPR has reported that the USPTO has rejected two applications featuring the word ‘Redskin’ on the grounds that it is a disparaging and derogatory term.
The letter to Goodell added that tribes have worked for “generations” to preserve the right to speak their languages and perform their sacred ceremonies.
“Yet every Sunday during football season, the Washington, DC football team mocks their culture,” it said.
“The NFL can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur.”
Despite the criticism of its trademark, the team has remained adamant it should not be forced to change its name.
In a letter to the team’s supporters in October last year, owner Daniel Snyder wrote: “The name was never a label. It was, and continues to be, a badge of honour.
"It is a symbol of everything we stand for: strength, courage, pride, and respect—the
same values we know guide Native Americans and which are embedded throughout their rich history as the original Americans."
