Washington Redskins changed its name to the "racial slur":Two members of the US Congress have called
on the head of the largest professional American football league to support
changing a team name they deem offensive to Native Americans. Senator Maria
Cantwell and Congressman Tom Cole said the Washington Redskins name was a
"racial slur". The National Football League's Roger Goodell has said
it is an "honour". The team in the US capitol has used the name for 80
years, and its owner Dan Snyder says he will keep it. But a growing number of
journalists, civil rights organisations and Native American groups say the term
is racist and offensive and should be changed. Last year, President Barack
Obama, an American football fan, urged the team to consider changing it. In a letter
dated Monday and obtained by the New York Times, Ms Cantwell, a
Washington Democrat, and Mr Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, told Mr Goodell,
"The terminology used by the Washington
football team has been determined to be a slur." "It is, in fact, an
insult to Native Americans," they added. "We are calling on you and
the National Football League to take a formal position in support of a name
change." Ms Cantwell is the chairwoman of the Senate Indian affairs
committee, and Mr Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, is one of only two
Native American members of Congress. 'More important issues' Mr Snyder has
refused to change his team's name, dismissing growing complaints it is
offensive. Mr Goodell has said he supports keeping the name, saying last month
it "honoured" Native Americans. He also cited polling he said
suggested the public opposed a name change. But Ms Cantwell and Mr Cole said
defending the name based on public opinion polling "flies in the face of
our constitutionally protected government-to-government relationship with
tribes". "The National Football League is on the wrong side of
history," they wrote. Redskins spokesman Tony Wyllie defended the team
name and questioned the politicians' attention to the matter. "With all
the important issues Congress has to deal with, such as a war in Afghanistan to
deficits to health care, don't they have more important issues to worry about
than a football team's name?" he told the Reuters news agency.
