Washington Redskins To Retire ‘racist’ Name
The Washington Redskins NFL side has announced that it will formally retire it’s nickname and logo, both the subject of continued criticism for racist connotations.
The team’s major sponsors, including Nike and FedEx, recently threatened to pull out of the organisation unless it considered the change and owner Dan Snyder – who previously vowed never to remove the moniker – has finally agreed to the change.
In a statement, the team said it would ‘retire the Redskins name and logo’ and that a new nickname and logo would be announced soon.
The DC-based unit has been criticised for years for the name, which is seen as offensive to Native Americans.
Alongside the organisation’s sponsors, companies including Amazon, Walmart and Target removed team merchandise from their websites, while ESPN also said it would stop using the team logo, which depicts a Native American man.
The announcement does not immediately change the name of the team; the team’s official website maintains the current team name, as does the team’s official Twitter handle.
