At least two Native American groups have appealed directly to NFL players via Twitter this week. The campaign is aimed at bringing an end to the name change controversy surrounding the Washington Redskins. As team owner Dan Snyder seems absolutely unwilling to consider the name change lobbyists are appealing directly to the players. Will it be enough to make the Redskins become 'The Americans?'
The National Congress of American Indians as well as the Oneida Indian Nation appealed directly to over 2,700 NFL players this week urging them to speak out against the Washington Redskins' offensive name. Through written letters and Twitter messages the groups are hoping to rally influential players to their cause (via Washington Post):
"'Because you are in the NFL, you command a level of respect and credibility when speaking out about the league's behavior,' the letter said. 'Indeed, players are the most publicly identifiable representatives of the league, which means your support is critical to ending this injustice.'
"Goodell and Washington team officials have consistently said they don't believe the name is disparaging to Native Americans and have cited polls that show that the majority of people share that sentiment."
How condescending and arrogant of Goodell and Snyder to tell Native Americans what they should and shouldn't find offensive. No one can make that determination other than Native Americans themselves. And many of them have explicitly stated that the term 'redskin' is offensive.
While many have spoken up about the controversy few have actually proposed solutions. According to Sporting News, Kevin Gover of the National Museum of American Indians has a suggestion:
"'The point is that it's about context, Gover said then, via USA Today . 'If you called them the Americans and had a contemporary Native image, that's inclusive. That's much different from singling us out and calling us by that name and having the image of a stereotypical Native American from the 19th Century, as though we're not still around.'"
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