Should teams and organizations keep potentially racist mascots? Some well-known examples of teams who eliminated such mascots are the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians.
In 2020, the NFL’s Washington Redskins changed their name and logo due to social and economic pressure. They were simply called the Washington football team for a while before officially changing their name to the Washington Commanders.
More recently in 2021, MLB’s Cleveland Indians did the same by changing their team’s name and logo to the Cleveland Guardians.
This all seems like a good idea to most people as it seems we are moving forward as a culture; however, there has been a recent lawsuit against the Washington organization by Native American group, NAGA. NAGA sued the Washington Commanders for $1.6 million in September. They claimed the team has a “monopoly on the narrative,” and are angry regarding the 2020 name change. They felt represented by the old team’s name and felt it honored their ancestors. NAGA even said that the name “was never intended as a derogatory or offensive term but as a symbol of respect and admiration.” They also claimed that “changing the name abruptly disregards the positive legacy that the Redskins name has built over the years and disorients the passionate fans who have invested their emotions, time, and unwavering support in the team.”
This organization is fighting to get the team’s name ‘Redskins’ back, as well as trying to reinstate the ‘Indians.’
It was never Native Americans that got offended by these team names, but more so other races of sensitive people that demanded these changes. Native American groups want these names back and want other teams like these to stop changing their names. I agree with this and the fact that these team names should be brought back, as well as stop the change of other team names like these. I believe teams and organizations should look to Native American groups such as the Native American Guardians’ Association on what to do in these situations or what is deemed offensive to them, not others.
