Leave it to the Washington future Hogs (wishful thinking) to finally concede to changing the team’s name in the wake of a totally unrelated civil rights movement as opposed to, ya know, decades of unrelenting pleas from the people trivialized.
The name change is a good thing, but if Dan Snyder and the Hogs top brass were really enlightened, the word “Redskins” wouldn’t have appeared on their statement SEVEN damn times.
The #Redskins have officially released a statement saying that they are “developing a new name and design “ for the team
What do you think their new name should be? 👀 pic.twitter.com/0jaTHjH3p5
— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) July 13, 2020
As the name change saga has reportedly hit a copyright snag, the Navajo Nation have offered their preferred choice for the team’s re-brand that would avoid all the copyright hoopla.
The Navajo Nation occupies over 27,000 square miles of territory, the largest retained by an indigenous tribe in the United States (larger than 10 states), and consists of a population over 175,000. I think their opinion may matter a smidge.
STATEMENT ON WASHINGTON “REDSKINS” TEAM NAME AND LOGO RETIREMENT pic.twitter.com/uGXdz9Gheo
— Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez (@NNPrezNez) July 13, 2020
“July 13, 2020 is now a historic day for all Indigenous peoples around the world as the NFL Washington-based team officially announced the retirement of the racist and disparaging ‘Redskins’ team name and logo,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez wrote. “This change did not come about willingly by the team’s owners, but by the mounting pressure and advocacy of Indigenous peoples such as Amanda Blackhorse, and many other warriors who fought long and hard for this change.”
The statement continued: “We strongly encourage the NFL Washington organization to rename their team in such a way that truly honors and respects the First Americans of this country. Renaming the team ‘Code Talkers’ to honor the Navajo Code Talkers, and other tribal nations who used their sacred language to help win World War II, would set the team on a path to restoring its reputation and correcting the historical misrepresentation of Indigenous peoples.”
The Code Talkers are the epitome of unsung heroes. They were vital in front line operations during World War II and weren’t even recognized until after the de-classification of their work over 20 years later, and it took another 15 years after that for given a Certificate of Recognition by Ronald Reagan.
The Washington Codetalkers https://t.co/6oYsM7DGHq https://t.co/kvczjMPb69 pic.twitter.com/csJI21pxJ8
— James Gordon Meek (@meekwire) July 13, 2020
Code Talkers. Good humans. Questionable football team name.
HOGS, on the other hand…
It's official, the NFL team in Washington is changing their name. And the suggestions so far are… not that great.
Come on, put in a little effort here, guys.
On today's The Morning Jog, with @franciscellis @RobbyBerger & @MrKeohan.
FULL EPISODE☕🏃♂️➡️https://t.co/OWPvZmdY7N pic.twitter.com/HqLcMPZod2
— BroBible (@BroBible) July 14, 2020