JUDY WOODRUFF: A decades-old controversy over the name of the Washington, D.C., professional
football reaching a tipping point today.
As Amna Nawaz reports, after years of public outcry condemning the name as a racial slur
aimed at Native Americans, ownership is now considering a change.
AMNA NAWAZ: That's right, Judy.
In a statement today, the team said it's launching a -- quote, unquote -- "thorough review" of
their name. That came after major corporate backers FedEx and Pepsi called publicly for
the change. Another sponsor, Nike, pulled team merchandise from its Web site.
For more on today's decision and what drove it, I'm joined by Washington Post columnist
Kevin Blackistone. He's also producing a documentary called "Imagining the Indian," examining the
fight against Native American mascots in the world of sports.
Kevin, welcome back to the "NewsHour."
There have been calls for years, we should point out, to change the Washington team's
name. Let's start with your reaction. What do you make about the decision and statement
from the team today?
KEVIN BLACKISTONE, University of Maryland: Well, I am glad that we are finally at this
press precipice once again. I hope this nickname issue can be shoved over the ledge.
I don't make much of the statement today. First of all, I am offended they would use
the name in the statement and underscore it. I am offended that Dan Snyder -- statement
from him did not include, as a group of people to talk to, the Native Americans who are,
in fact, offended by this and have been fighting for a name change for some 50 years now.
And I was a little bit disturbed as well by coach Rivera's statement which somehow included
the military as being honored in all of this, which is baffling to me, because the only
way you bring up the military in terms of Native Americans is with genocide, and the
fact that the militias in this country back in Connecticut and Massachusetts, when the
colonies were being founded, included bounties or issued bounties for the scalps of Native
Americans being removed from their land.
And, in fact, that is what became known as redskins. So, it was tone-deaf to me in a
lot of ways.
AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned the statement from team owner Dan Snyder.
I want to read to our viewers in full his quote from that statement.
He wrote: "The process" -- meaning this process they are now going launch -- "allows the team
to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise, also input from
our alumni, the organization, sponsors, the NFL and the local community it is proud to
represent on and off the field."
Kevin, I am old enough to remember back in 2013 when Snyder was asked about a name change,
and he said, never, all caps, we will never change the name.
So, is that where the resistance was? Was it really just Snyder?
KEVIN BLACKISTONE: You know, there was certainly the fan base that he has very much made himself
a part of, a fan base which, by the way, has not liked his leadership for the team in terms
of winning games on the field.
But maybe around this nickname is the one place where he felt that the fans would support
him. And there has been support from fans. But it is not about the fans. This is about
humanity. This is about treating other people as equals. This is about no longer denigrating
the Native people of this land.
And that is what this movement is all about. And I think it is really interesting that
the shift now has been made by the Black Lives Matter movement, right? Because this started
out weeks ago as a protest against police lethality against black men in this country
with George Floyd's death.
And then it became an attack on Confederate iconology in this country. And then it became
an attack on Christopher Columbus and his true history. And we have seen the removal
of those statues. And Christopher Columbus is the one who really is representative when
it comes to Native American genocide in this country.
And that relates -- that's the seed of racism in this country which relates all the way
back to this nickname.
AMNA NAWAZ: Want to ask you about some of the external pressure, though, because we
mentioned some of those corporate backers and their statements and their actions this
week, FedEx saying, within days, we want the name changed.
Nike saying -- or Nike, rather, looking like it took all the merchandise off of its Web
site.
When you look at this decision from the Washington team's perspective, was it a moral one? Did
they finally realize, OK, this is the right move? Or was it a market one?
KEVIN BLACKISTONE: This is absolutely a market move. This is hitting them in the pocketbook.
I would like to be able to say today that this was an altruistic move by this team,
but, as you alluded to earlier in this report, this has been a struggle that has been going
on for years. We thought that, in 2014 and 2013, that things were going to become different,
that that was an opportunity for this team to move in another direction, get on the right
side of history.
Dan Snyder could have done this when he purchased a team. You would think that Dan Snyder, a
Jewish-American, would have some particular sensibility about the struggle that has been
going on with this team's nickname with Native Americans for so many years.
But that hasn't happened. So this is strictly a reaction to forces that are pushing in this
country right now, social justice forces. And particularly as it relates to this franchise,
it is a pocketbook issue now, with these major sponsors starting to push back.
AMNA NAWAZ: Kevin, in just the few seconds we have left, there are other pro leagues
that have Native American mascots, MLB, NHL. Do you think this decision can spur change
in those leagues too?
KEVIN BLACKISTONE: Absolutely.
This is the top of this iceberg, an iceberg that, by the way, has been eroding beneath
the water, as high school after high school and college after high college that have had
these sorts of nicknames and these sorts of images, have removed them from their teams.
AMNA NAWAZ: That is Kevin Blackistone, Washington Post columnist and producer of the upcoming
documentary "Imagining the Indian."
Thank you, Kevin.
KEVIN BLACKISTONE: Thank you very much.