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JUDY WOODRUFF: A decades-old
controversy over the name of the
Washington, D.C., professional

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football reaching a
tipping point today.

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As Amna Nawaz reports,
after years of public
outcry condemning the
name as a racial slur

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aimed at Native Americans,
ownership is now
considering a change.

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AMNA NAWAZ: That's right, Judy.

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In a statement today, the team
said it's launching a -- quote,
unquote -- "thorough review" of

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their name. That came after
major corporate backers FedEx
and Pepsi called publicly for

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the change. Another
sponsor, Nike, pulled team
merchandise from its Web site.

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For more on today's decision
and what drove it, I'm joined
by Washington Post columnist

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Kevin Blackistone. He's
also producing a documentary
called "Imagining the
Indian," examining the

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fight against Native American
mascots in the world of sports.

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Kevin, welcome back
to the "NewsHour."

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There have been calls for
years, we should point out, to
change the Washington team's

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name. Let's start with your
reaction. What do you make
about the decision and statement

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from the team today?

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KEVIN BLACKISTONE, University
of Maryland: Well, I am glad
that we are finally at this

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press precipice once again.
I hope this nickname issue
can be shoved over the ledge.

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I don't make much of the
statement today. First of all,
I am offended they would use

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the name in the statement and
underscore it. I am offended
that Dan Snyder -- statement

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from him did not include, as
a group of people to talk to,
the Native Americans who are,

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in fact, offended by this and
have been fighting for a name
change for some 50 years now.

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And I was a little bit disturbed
as well by coach Rivera's
statement which somehow included

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the military as being honored
in all of this, which is
baffling to me, because the only

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way you bring up the military
in terms of Native Americans
is with genocide, and the

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fact that the militias in this
country back in Connecticut
and Massachusetts, when the

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colonies were being
founded, included bounties
or issued bounties for
the scalps of Native

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Americans being removed
from their land.

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And, in fact, that is what
became known as redskins. So,
it was tone-deaf to me in a

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lot of ways.

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AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned
the statement from
team owner Dan Snyder.

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I want to read to our
viewers in full his quote
from that statement.

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He wrote: "The process"
-- meaning this process
they are now going launch
-- "allows the team

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to take into account not
only the proud tradition
and history of the
franchise, also input from

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our alumni, the organization,
sponsors, the NFL and the
local community it is proud to

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represent on and off the field."

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Kevin, I am old enough
to remember back in 2013
when Snyder was asked
about a name change,

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and he said, never, all caps,
we will never change the name.

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So, is that where the resistance
was? Was it really just Snyder?

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KEVIN BLACKISTONE: You
know, there was certainly
the fan base that he has
very much made himself

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a part of, a fan base which,
by the way, has not liked his
leadership for the team in terms

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of winning games on the field.

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But maybe around this nickname
is the one place where he felt
that the fans would support

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him. And there has been support
from fans. But it is not
about the fans. This is about

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humanity. This is about treating
other people as equals. This
is about no longer denigrating

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the Native people of this land.

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And that is what this movement
is all about. And I think it
is really interesting that

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the shift now has been made by
the Black Lives Matter movement,
right? Because this started

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out weeks ago as a protest
against police lethality against
black men in this country

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with George Floyd's death.

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And then it became an attack on
Confederate iconology in this
country. And then it became

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an attack on Christopher
Columbus and his true history.
And we have seen the removal

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of those statues. And
Christopher Columbus
is the one who really
is representative when

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it comes to Native American
genocide in this country.

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And that relates -- that's the
seed of racism in this country
which relates all the way

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back to this nickname.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Want to ask you
about some of the external
pressure, though, because we

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mentioned some of those
corporate backers and
their statements and
their actions this

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week, FedEx saying, within
days, we want the name changed.

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Nike saying -- or Nike, rather,
looking like it took all the
merchandise off of its Web

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site.

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When you look at this
decision from the Washington
team's perspective,
was it a moral one? Did

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they finally realize, OK,
this is the right move?
Or was it a market one?

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KEVIN BLACKISTONE: This
is absolutely a market
move. This is hitting
them in the pocketbook.

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I would like to be able to
say today that this was an
altruistic move by this team,

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but, as you alluded to earlier
in this report, this has been
a struggle that has been going

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on for years. We thought that,
in 2014 and 2013, that things
were going to become different,

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that that was an opportunity
for this team to move in another
direction, get on the right

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side of history.

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Dan Snyder could have done this
when he purchased a team. You
would think that Dan Snyder, a

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Jewish-American, would have
some particular sensibility
about the struggle that has been

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going on with this team's
nickname with Native
Americans for so many years.

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But that hasn't happened. So
this is strictly a reaction to
forces that are pushing in this

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country right now,
social justice forces.
And particularly as it
relates to this franchise,

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it is a pocketbook issue now,
with these major sponsors
starting to push back.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Kevin, in just
the few seconds we have left,
there are other pro leagues

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that have Native American
mascots, MLB, NHL. Do you think
this decision can spur change

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in those leagues too?

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KEVIN BLACKISTONE: Absolutely.

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This is the top of this iceberg,
an iceberg that, by the way,
has been eroding beneath

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the water, as high school after
high school and college after
high college that have had

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these sorts of nicknames and
these sorts of images, have
removed them from their teams.

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AMNA NAWAZ: That is Kevin
Blackistone, Washington
Post columnist and
producer of the upcoming

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documentary "Imagining
the Indian."

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Thank you, Kevin.

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KEVIN BLACKISTONE:
Thank you very much.