Efforts to lure the Washington Redskins back to the District have come up against a potentially insurmountable challenge: the Obama administrationās objections to the teamās name.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser this spring that the National Park Service, which owns the land beneath Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, was unlikely to accommodate construction of a new stadium for the Redskins unless the team changes its name.
Jewell oversees both national park land and Americaās trust and treaty relationships with Native American tribes.
Her decision not to extend the Districtās lease of the RFK land badly hinders Bowserās bid to return the Redskins to D.C. ā and boosts efforts to lure the team across the Potomac to Northern Virginia.
Since joining the Obama administration two years ago, Jewell has repeatedly echoed the presidentās concern that the name is offensive to Native Americans. Last fall she called the name a ārelic of the pastā that should be changed.
āPersonally, I think we would never consider naming a team the āBlackskinsā or the āBrownskinsā or the āWhiteskins.ā So, personally, I find it surprising that in this day and age, the name is not different,ā Jewell told ABC News.
More: Obama administration rebuffs D.C.'s efforts to bring back the Redskins - The Washington Post
Thank you, President Obama and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser this spring that the National Park Service, which owns the land beneath Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, was unlikely to accommodate construction of a new stadium for the Redskins unless the team changes its name.
Jewell oversees both national park land and Americaās trust and treaty relationships with Native American tribes.
Her decision not to extend the Districtās lease of the RFK land badly hinders Bowserās bid to return the Redskins to D.C. ā and boosts efforts to lure the team across the Potomac to Northern Virginia.
Since joining the Obama administration two years ago, Jewell has repeatedly echoed the presidentās concern that the name is offensive to Native Americans. Last fall she called the name a ārelic of the pastā that should be changed.
āPersonally, I think we would never consider naming a team the āBlackskinsā or the āBrownskinsā or the āWhiteskins.ā So, personally, I find it surprising that in this day and age, the name is not different,ā Jewell told ABC News.
More: Obama administration rebuffs D.C.'s efforts to bring back the Redskins - The Washington Post
Thank you, President Obama and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.
