Change is long overdue

Snyder has power to make this go away

It’s a racial slur, Dan Snyder. Just deal with it. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued its long-awaited ruling regarding the trademark protection for the Washington “Redskins” on Wednesday, and the bottom line was precisely what so many Native American groups and other interested parties — including 50 U.S. senators — had hoped.

Snyder and the big-time football industry he is associated with, the NFL, will no longer — if the ruling holds up after the appeals process — have federal legal protection for its marks.

That doesn’t force Snyder to change the name of his football team, but ultimately it could mean the bootlegger next door can profit from his own burgundy and gold merchandise.

Yet this is so far beyond the business of pro football. It’s about doing the right thing. The decision validates what Snyder and the NFL have fought tooth-and-nail against: The team name is a slur. With its ugly roots traced to efforts to extinguish Native Americans in this land, it is disparaging to American Indians and their heritage.

The nerve of Snyder and the NFL to insist on continuing to use this slur as a team name. It’s a racial slur, Dan Snyder. Just deal with it. One would have hoped the ruling would compel Snyder to throw in the towel and come up with a new name.

History, though, tells us that Snyder and the NFL will dig in.

That the latest ruling concluded with a 2-1 decision from the panel rather than with a unanimous vote will surely provide fuel for those in the Snyder camp.

They’ll point to the dissenting opinion that there is a question of whether the R-word is a slur, that the dictionary definition was influenced by pressure groups.

The response to that argument is that, sometimes, pressure is exactly what is needed.

As recently as two weeks ago, a high-ranking NFL official, Adolpho Birch, went on record during an interview on ESPN’s Outside

The Lines and declared that the league doesn’t think the R-word is a racial slur.

And therein lies a huge problem.

In defending the continued use of the slur, Snyder’s team will tell you there are polls — no doubt, with many respondents ambivalent rather than sensitive because it is of no consequence to them — suggesting many approve of the team name.

The team also has contended there are Native Americans who approve and that the team is honoring tribal heritage.

Then listen to Amanda Blackfoot, a plaintiff in the case. The Rword is disparaging to Blackfoot, who doubts Snyder would call her a “redskin” to her face.

That humanizes the issue for me, as for many years I didn’t give a second thought to the NFL team’s use of the name. Now I know better.

It’s time for Snyder and the NFL to know better, too.

The NFL has done much good with its standing as the nation’s most popular sport, making a difference when it lends support to worthy causes. Think about the breast cancer awareness that flows when players wear pink in October. Or the impact on The Salvation Army with halftime entertainment on Thanksgiving. Hail to its efforts for diversity.

With the ruling providing a fresh reminder, there’s still an opportunity to demonstrate bold leadership by changing the name (and mascot) of a signature franchise that was instituted by its racist founder, George Preston Marshall. Go ahead, Dan Snyder. Better late than never.