Thought Leadership

Writers Speaking Out on Redskins Controversy

As the Oneida Indian Nation’s Change the Mascot campaign to remove “redskins” from the name of Washington’s NFL team heats up, prominent sports journalists across the country are stepping forward on the issue.

USA Today Sports Columnist and Washington, D.C. resident Christine Brennan published a bold piece yesterday, committing that she will no longer use the term “Redskins” in her writing.

Eric Zorn of The Chicago Tribune also published an article this week on the name change controversy. Zorn quoted the latest radio ad from Change the Mascot and stated: “I hope my friends in our sports department plan to help lead rather than follow in this trend.”

Meanwhile, respected football columnist Peter King has also pledged to stop referring to the Washington team as the Redskins and national publications including Mother Jones, Slate and New Republic have pledged to stop using the r-word, which many Native Americans consider an offensive epithet.

The Change the Mascot campaign’s message is certainly bringing the issue to the fore like never before.  As the group noted in its most press release, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the league and owners “need to be listening” to those pushing for a change.