Sports team racial reform

If there’s one thing that was consistent during 2020, it is change. With a mass increase in racial equality efforts across the United States, one of these many changes include some of the big names in professional sports.

The most well known name change this year was for the Washington Redskins. The Redskins name has been a controversial topic for many years now. The protesters were arguing that the name “Redskin” is a slur and it is stereotypically racist. After public and financial pressure, the Redskins caved in and changed the name.

The Redskins have changed their name to the Washington Football Team in an effort to combat racism and discrimination. The Washington Football Team name is temporary, and they will change the name when they think of a permanent solution.

“ I think that the name change is pointless and it is making a problem of a non-issue. Most of the tribes or Native Americans that are represented by the teams take pride in their team. If the Native American based names are racist because they are “stereotypical”, then why are the Celtics, Vikings, Texans, Trojans, Spartans, Cowboys, Rangers, and Patriots names acceptable?” said Freshman, Miles Bowman.

Another recent name change is for the Clevelend Indians. Cleveland dropped the controversial “Indians” name after many years of protest and controversy. The Cleveland Indians owner said “ we will still be branded as the Indians for the 2021 season” , however they have jerseys without the indians logo and have started to disassociate with the indians name.

Team name/logo changes are nothing new, The Miami Redhawks wasn’t always the redhawks. They changed the name to the Redhawks after protests of the previous name “Redskins.” The Golden State Warriors even changed their Native American logo in 1969 when they moved to San Francisco.