Washington Redskins racist? What do the Navajo really think?
Navajo Nation president Ben Shelly was an honored guest of聽Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, sitting next to him during yesterday鈥檚 NFL game between the Redskins and Arizona Cardinals. And this viral photo of Native American leader is being hailed as a rebuttal to those who say the team鈥檚 name is racist.
What do Native Americans, whom the name supposedly offends, actually think? Is Shelly's support representative?
Public statements and opinion polls show mixed feelings on the name, and the photo 鈥� complete with Mr. Shelly in a Redskins cap 鈥� is raising more questions about a team name change.
While some saw the gesture as a powerful public handshake, others were quick to criticize.
鈥淭his is some heinously ham-handed PR,鈥� Tom Logue聽 to the photo. Then Deadspin reported that Shelly, who will finish in January, has clashed with his own tribal council, which voted 9-2 in April to formally oppose the Washington Redskins name. He was also accused of going behind the back of tribal leaders when he co-hosted a golf tournament with Mr. Snyder鈥檚 Original Americans Foundation.
Snyder recently told ESPN he won鈥檛 bow to pressure to change his team鈥檚 nickname as it is not derogatory, claiming it鈥檚 actually a . He cited William Henry 鈥淟one Star鈥� Dietz, the team鈥檚 first coach and namesake, and Walter 鈥淏lackie鈥� Wetzel, a former president of the National Congress of American Indians and chairman of the Blackfeet Nation, who helped design and approve the team鈥檚 logo.
Positive history aside, how do Native Americans today feel about the name?
The Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies at California State University in San Bernardino surveyed 400 individuals, 98 of them Native Americans, and found that the 鈥淩edskins team name is a racial or racist word and symbol.鈥� Whites were 32.8 percent in agreement that the name was racial or racist.
A June 2014 Rasmussen Reports poll found 60 percent of respondents said the team . Similarly, a September 2014 poll conducted by Langer Research for ESPN found 71 percent in favor of keeping the name and that 68 percent of Native Americans.
Shelly is not the first Native American to be touted as a supporter. During the NFL's 鈥淪alute to Service鈥� month and Native American Heritage month, the Washington Redskins recognized four members of the Navajo Code Talkers Association. One of them, Roy Hawthorne, told the Associated Press . 鈥淢y opinion is that's a name that not only the team should keep, but that's a name that's American,鈥� he said.
Hawthorne is just one of a number of Native Americans who have voiced support for the name in the media.
Even so, IJReview reported Indian Country Today says Shelly is :
鈥淚t is unfortunate the Navajo Nation administration of Ben Shelly is so out of step with the Navajo people, particularly the young people, regarding this issue. Obviously, offensive cultural appropriation done by non-Native fans of Native Mascots does not generally include Navajo culture. We do not see them performing Sand Paintings at halftime or dressed like Yeii, but we should understand that most Americans are unable to differentiate between tribes enough to understand that and that Navajo children, two-thirds of whom live off the reservation, are subjected to these ignorant ideas about who they are as Native Americans.鈥�
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