Good news: the president of the Redskins has declared that every player should…
Bruce Allen, the president of the Washington Redskins, has responded to a letter signed by numerous senators, 49 of whom are Democrats and one is a Republican, urging the team to rename its contentious sports team.
Allen described the team as “a positive, unifying force for our community in a city and region that is divided on so many levels” in a letter he wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Friday. Reid was even invited by Allen to a home game so he could experience the positive energy firsthand.
The letter was sent a few days after Reid and the other lawmakers pushed the NFL to punish the Redskins harshly, citing the severe penalties the NBA imposed on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling after he was caught on camera making racially offensive comments.
The senators’ letter stated, “The N.F.L. can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything other than what it is: a racial slur.” “We implore the NFL to formally endorse the Washington football team’s renaming.”
The team’s illustrious past as one of the NFL’s crown jewels, with 11 appearances in championship games and five championship wins, was highlighted in Allen’s reply letter.
With the team’s eighteen-year history, thousands of alumni, millions of fans, and an Annenberg Public Policy Center study that surveyed almost a thousand Native Americans, 90% of whom apparently did not find the name offensive, he boasted.
He wrote, “The Redskins team name continues to carry a deep and purposeful meaning,” and mentioned that a senior linguist had spent seven months investigating the name’s history and that Native Americans had first used it as a term of solidarity.
Snyder told the Associated Press, “We understand the issues out there, and we’re not an issue.” “The real issues are real-life issues and real-life needs, and I think it’s time that people focus on reality.”
A few months back, Snyder declared that he would establish the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation, an entity that would “provide meaningful and measurable resources that provided genuine opportunities for tribal communities,” as part of a public relations effort to fend off growing criticism and pressure.
In a letter of his own, Snyder stated, “The struggles of Native Americans have been ignored, unnoticed, and unresolved for far too long.” As a team, we have respected them on the field and with our words; going forward, we will respect them with our deeds.
We pledge to the tribes with which we are united to support you in creating a more promising future for your local communities.
Indeed, Native Americans continue to face immense hardships across the nation, with many of them residing in remote, rural areas with stagnant economies.
Be the first to comment