JUDY WOODRUFF: A decades-old
controversy over the name of the
Washington, D.C., professional
football reaching a
tipping point today.
As Amna Nawaz reports,
after years of public
outcry condemning the
name as a racial slur
aimed at Native Americans,
ownership is now
considering a change.
AMNA NAWAZ: That's right, Judy.
In a statement today, the team
said it's launching a -- quote,
unquote -- "thorough review" of
their name. That came after
major corporate backers FedEx
and Pepsi called publicly for
the change. Another
sponsor, Nike, pulled team
merchandise from its Web site.
For more on today's decision
and what drove it, I'm joined
by Washington Post columnist
Kevin Blackistone. He's
also producing a documentary
called "Imagining the
Indian," examining the
fight against Native American
mascots in the world of sports.
Kevin, welcome back
to the "NewsHour."
There have been calls for
years, we should point out, to
change the Washington team's
name. Let's start with your
reaction. What do you make
about the decision and statement
from the team today?
KEVIN BLACKISTONE, University
of Maryland: Well, I am glad
that we are finally at this
press precipice once again.
I hope this nickname issue
can be shoved over the ledge.
I don't make much of the
statement today. First of all,
I am offended they would use
the name in the statement and
underscore it. I am offended
that Dan Snyder -- statement
from him did not include, as
a group of people to talk to,
the Native Americans who are,
in fact, offended by this and
have been fighting for a name
change for some 50 years now.
And I was a little bit disturbed
as well by coach Rivera's
statement which somehow included
the military as being honored
in all of this, which is
baffling to me, because the only
way you bring up the military
in terms of Native Americans
is with genocide, and the
fact that the militias in this
country back in Connecticut
and Massachusetts, when the
colonies were being
founded, included bounties
or issued bounties for
the scalps of Native
Americans being removed
from their land.
And, in fact, that is what
became known as redskins. So,
it was tone-deaf to me in a
lot of ways.
AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned
the statement from
team owner Dan Snyder.
I want to read to our
viewers in full his quote
from that statement.
He wrote: "The process"
-- meaning this process
they are now going launch
-- "allows the team
to take into account not
only the proud tradition
and history of the
franchise, also input from
our alumni, the organization,
sponsors, the NFL and the
local community it is proud to
represent on and off the field."
Kevin, I am old enough
to remember back in 2013
when Snyder was asked
about a name change,
and he said, never, all caps,
we will never change the name.
So, is that where the resistance
was? Was it really just Snyder?
KEVIN BLACKISTONE: You
know, there was certainly
the fan base that he has
very much made himself
a part of, a fan base which,
by the way, has not liked his
leadership for the team in terms
of winning games on the field.
But maybe around this nickname
is the one place where he felt
that the fans would support
him. And there has been support
from fans. But it is not
about the fans. This is about
humanity. This is about treating
other people as equals. This
is about no longer denigrating
the Native people of this land.
And that is what this movement
is all about. And I think it
is really interesting that
the shift now has been made by
the Black Lives Matter movement,
right? Because this started
out weeks ago as a protest
against police lethality against
black men in this country
with George Floyd's death.
And then it became an attack on
Confederate iconology in this
country. And then it became
an attack on Christopher
Columbus and his true history.
And we have seen the removal
of those statues. And
Christopher Columbus
is the one who really
is representative when
it comes to Native American
genocide in this country.
And that relates -- that's the
seed of racism in this country
which relates all the way
back to this nickname.
AMNA NAWAZ: Want to ask you
about some of the external
pressure, though, because we
mentioned some of those
corporate backers and
their statements and
their actions this
week, FedEx saying, within
days, we want the name changed.
Nike saying -- or Nike, rather,
looking like it took all the
merchandise off of its Web
site.
When you look at this
decision from the Washington
team's perspective,
was it a moral one? Did
they finally realize, OK,
this is the right move?
Or was it a market one?
KEVIN BLACKISTONE: This
is absolutely a market
move. This is hitting
them in the pocketbook.
I would like to be able to
say today that this was an
altruistic move by this team,
but, as you alluded to earlier
in this report, this has been
a struggle that has been going
on for years. We thought that,
in 2014 and 2013, that things
were going to become different,
that that was an opportunity
for this team to move in another
direction, get on the right
side of history.
Dan Snyder could have done this
when he purchased a team. You
would think that Dan Snyder, a
Jewish-American, would have
some particular sensibility
about the struggle that has been
going on with this team's
nickname with Native
Americans for so many years.
But that hasn't happened. So
this is strictly a reaction to
forces that are pushing in this
country right now,
social justice forces.
And particularly as it
relates to this franchise,
it is a pocketbook issue now,
with these major sponsors
starting to push back.
AMNA NAWAZ: Kevin, in just
the few seconds we have left,
there are other pro leagues
that have Native American
mascots, MLB, NHL. Do you think
this decision can spur change
in those leagues too?
KEVIN BLACKISTONE: Absolutely.
This is the top of this iceberg,
an iceberg that, by the way,
has been eroding beneath
the water, as high school after
high school and college after
high college that have had
these sorts of nicknames and
these sorts of images, have
removed them from their teams.
AMNA NAWAZ: That is Kevin
Blackistone, Washington
Post columnist and
producer of the upcoming
documentary "Imagining
the Indian."
Thank you, Kevin.
KEVIN BLACKISTONE:
Thank you very much.