The Racial Justice Reckoning Over Sports Team Names Is Spreading

Fans sit in the stands before the start of a game between the New York Giants and Washington Redskins at FedEx Field in 2019 in Landover, Md. The team, and others, are reviewing their names.

Patrick McDermott / Getty Images

Lots of people, especially many Native Americans, loathe the name of the Washington, D.C., NFL team, the Redskins.

“The origin of that name is rooted in murder and violence and genocide and hate,” says Crystal Echo Hawk, the founder and CEO of the advocacy group IllumiNative. “It’s a dictionary-defined racial slur, full-stop.”

Echo Hawk says a 30-year stalemate over the team name suddenly broke when the team’s corporate sponsors demanded a new name, and the team agreed to consider it.