Goodbye, Redskins: A name change is long overdue

We should be clear on the reason the Washington Redskins finally agreed to drop the team’s troubling name: It was because of money, as Federal Express made clear that it would withdraw its corporate support — and the tens of millions of dollars that went with it — if the name wasn’t changed. Fedex, at least, was on the right page at a moment when the entire country is reflecting on race in America.

Fine. Whatever gets the job done.

Some people won’t want to see the name changed and it’s not hard to see why. The name is woven into the fabric of the National Football League and even into the American story. It’s part of the furniture.

And that, of course, is the problem, one that we have seen many times before in this country. It’s a matter of human nature: Familiarity breeds acceptance. When it’s always been this way, it can be easy to look past difficult issues. Indeed, a poll four years ago by The Washington Post found that nine out of 10 Native Americans weren’t offended by the name.

That’s the thing with furniture. But imagine the New York Blackskins, the Dallas Brownskins or the Miami Yellowskins. We wouldn’t have tolerated it before the killing of George Floyd sparked righteous American anger over racial inequality. With it — and the threatened loss of Fedex money — team owner Dan Snyder relented on his longstanding pledge never to change the team’s name.

To be sure, the decision raises other issues. What about the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League? They’re fair questions, though the names don’t carry the ethnically domineering quality that is intrinsic to “Redskins.” The Jamestown Red Raiders, whose logo features feathers, have a similar problem.

Also, how will the team rename itself? It seems fair to presume that a new name will avoid racial or ethnic stereotyping, but if the organization wants hard-core fans to buy into the change, it needs to be interesting and memorable. Washington locals still don’t buy the “Reagan” in National Airport or the “Thurgood Marshall” in Baltimore/washington International Airport. To them, they remain what they were, which is part of the furniture.

Still, this is a good, if belated, recognition of the need to ensure that prominent names and memorials honor those who deserve it and avoid disrespecting anyone. Good move.