Nevada’s Titus calls for Redskins’ name change
WASHINGTON — Nevada Rep. Dina Titus on Tuesday joined the growing chorus of those urging a name change for the Washington Redskins football team.
President Donald Trump and the team’s majority owner, Daniel Snyder, have opposed a change to the team name that Native Americans and others find racially insensitive.
“Changing the name is the right thing to do,” Titus, D-nev., said in response to an inquiry from the Review-journal.
“When the Las Vegas Raiders defeat Washington’s football team, I want all our fans to be comfortable saying the name of the team we beat,” she said.
The Washington team has been embroiled in the name-change controversy for several years, but recent events involving the removal of Confederate statues and systemic racism have brought the issue back to the forefront.
Trump tweeted Tuesday: “They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct.”
Minority owners in the franchise, including Fedex, which has naming rights to the team stadium in Maryland, have supported a name change. And head coach Ron Rivera said he hopes a change would occur before the 2020 season starts.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen tribal leaders and officials sent a letter Tuesday to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking the league to force a name change in Washington, according to The Associated Press, which received a copy of the missive.
Titus has teamed up with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a nonvoting Democrat for the District of Columbia, on issues relating to statehood and opposition to building a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Norton has called on the team to change its name. Norton said she would also support a move by the team back to Washington, D.C., from Maryland if the name is changed.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@ reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.