Nearly half the US Senate have joined a campaign spearheaded by Native Americans to pressure the Washington Redskins into changing its racially-charged name.
In a joint letter to National Football League (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell, the 49 senators noted the swift manner in which the National Basketball Association sanctioned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for racist remarks concerning blacks.
"Now is the time for the NFL to act," added the letter, dated Wednesday and made public Thursday.
"The Washington, D.C. football team is on the wrong side of history. What message does it send to punish slurs against African Americans while endorsing slurs against Native Americans?"
The senators -- including Majority Leader Harry Reid -- added: "The NFL can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur.
"We urge the NFL to formally support and push for a name change..."
Through a spokesman, the Redskins declined to comment.
Team owner Daniel Snyder firmly opposes a change, despite a national campaign led by the small but casino-prosperous Oneida nation in upstate New York which says "redskins" is a "dictionary-defined racial slur."
"It is a malicious insult," said Oneida leader Ray Halbritter in a statement Thursday welcoming the senators' letter.
Halbritter said opposition to the name has been growing "at all levels of government across the country" -- including the White House, where President Barack Obama said in October that he favored a name change.
In March, Snyder launched a Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation with the aim of providing "meaningful and measurable resources" for creating opportunities in Native American communities.
Share
