WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Post says it will stop calling Washington's football team the "Redskins" on its editorial page.
The paper's editorial board announced Friday that it will refrain from using the term that it says "unquestionably offends not only many Native Americans but many other Americans, too."
The board noted that it has been speaking out against the Redskins name since 1992. Redskins spokesman Tony Wyllie said the announcement was therefore "no surprise" to the team.
Several major newspapers have stopped using the name altogether.
Redskins owner Dan Snyder has vowed never to change the name, saying it honors Native Americans.
Washington Post Bans Redskins From Editorials
Most famously of all, Marshall was the last owner to accept a black player—fully 15 years after the ban was lifted. And his team drafted an African-American then (in 1961) only because it was forced to by the government—the then-new stadium that we call RFK Stadium today was built on Department of Interior land, which permitted the Kennedy administration to order the lessee (the team) to adhere to federal nondiscrimination policies. In other words, Marshall wasn’t merely a standard-issue racist of the time, like H.L. Mencken or countless others. He was diseased. He seethed with hatred of nonwhite people. And “Redskins” is his handiwork. Because “Braves” wasn’t quite descriptive enough.
The Racist Redskins - The Daily Beast
Progress is slow - but it's still progress. The man who named the Washington Redskins team, George Preston Marshall, was a diseased racist. His racist legacy should die.
