I’ve tried to avoid writing about the latest developments in this Redskins name issue, but now people are asking why I’m not writing about the latest developments in the Redskins name issue, so let me just do a brief all-purpose roundup.
* The AP conducted a national poll on the issue. Results: “A new Associated Press-GfK poll shows that nationally, “Redskins’ still enjoys wide support. Nearly four in five Americans don’t think the team should change its name, the survey found. Only 11 percent think it should be changed, while 8 percent weren’t sure and 2 percent didn’t answer….Among football fans, 11 percent said the name should be changed — the same as among non-fans. Among nonwhite football fans, 18 percent said it should change, about double the percentage of white football fans who oppose the name.”
* The Redskins were pleased with the result. From an un-bylined piece on Redskins.com: “While much of the world has changed over the last three decades, the loyal support for the Washington Redskins remains unwavering. It is also suspected that at least 50 percent of those in dissent are Dallas Cowboys fans.”
* The Washington Times does not believe the name should change, and certainly not to Redtails, which is what David Grosso proposed. Via a staff editorial: “Mr. Grosso, a composer yet, says the team’s popular anthem can be easily modified — ‘Hail to the Redtails’ — and ‘you can still keep the feather.’ Hooray. But if ‘Redskins’ demeans Indians, why wouldn’t ‘Redtails’ demean fighter pilots?”
* Deadspin did not like that editorial, writing this: “The Washington Times decided to publish an editorial titled ‘Hail to the Redtails?’ in which some moron tries to argue that changing the name of the Washington Redskins is a bad idea. It contains two of the dumbest sentences in the history of written language.”
* Eleanor Holmes Norton has made it clear where she stands, telling NewsChannel 8 that she won’t use the word ‘Redskins.’ “I don’t see how I can spend all my life as a black woman and then use a derogatory term when it comes to another ethnic group. And I’d like to hear the argument for holding onto that name. I hope that our team lives up to the admiration in which they are held all over this region and all over the country by just ditching the name.”
* Players, on the other hand, don’t seem to be feeling Redtails.