Senator Maria Cantwell and Representative Tom Cole are the latest high-profile figures to add themselves to the list of people who say Washington’s NFL team should be called something other than a word generally considered to be a racial slur. But Cantwell and Cole are adding a new tactic to their protest by targeting the NFL’s tax-exempt status as long as the league defends the name “Redskins.”
“The National Football league is on the wrong side of history,” Cantwell, a Washington state Democrat, and Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, write in their letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “It is not appropriate for this multibillion dollar 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization to perpetuate and profit from the continued degradation of tribes and Indian people.”
While individual football teams are taxed as business entities, the NFL itself, which is classified by the Internal Revenue Service as a “business league,” is exempt.
Cantwell and Cole also respond to Goodell’s remarks at a press conference last month ahead of the Super Bowl, in which the commissioner defended the Washington team by citing a 2004 poll of Native Americans in which only 9 percent said they found the name offensive. “This is the name of a football team, a football team that has had that name for 80 years,” Goodell said. “That has presented the name in a way that is honorable to Native Americans.”
In their letter, Cantwell and Cole are unconvinced by Goodell’s logic. “Saying the Washington football team ‘honored Native Americans’ perpetuates a charade that dishonors Native people and their governments and erodes the reputation of the National Football League,” they write. “The National Football League can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur.”
Tony Wyllie, the team’s spokesman, tells Washingtonian in an e-mail that Cole and Cantwell should buzz off.
“With all the important issues Congress has to deal with such as a war in Afghanistan to deficits to health care, don’t they have more important issues to worry about than a football team’s name?” Wyllie writes. “And given the fact that the name of Oklahoma means “Red People” in Choctaw, this request is a little ironic.”
However, the team’s name might actually be more in Cantwell’s and Cole’s purviews than Wyllie is willing to grant. Cantwell chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, while Cole is a member of the Chikasaw Nation.
In an effort to counter the ongoing criticism—or maybe just because it’s mid-February and a football team needs something to do—the Washington team is also pushing out a press release full of approving quotes from people identifying themselves as Native Americans. The press release, titled “Community Voices,” includes statements from Virginia and Maryland residents who agree with the team’s assessment that its name is an honorific. The team also claims that owner Dan Snyder has received more than 7,000 letters and e-mails since the beginning of the 2013 season.
“Community Voices” feels like a rehash of something the team did last February, when it responded to a Smithsonian symposium about Native American imagery in sports by trotting out profiles of high schools that use its name. But it’s not too surprising to see the franchise employ such an uncreative defense. After all, the team had the second-most ineffective defense during the 2013 season. At least the on- and off-field operations are consistent.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
Members of Congress Urge NFL to Support a Redskins Name Change
Two lawmakers suggest the NFL’s tax-exempt status should be reviewed if it doesn’t.
Senator Maria Cantwell and Representative Tom Cole are the latest high-profile figures to add themselves to the list of people who say Washington’s NFL team should be called something other than a word generally considered to be a racial slur. But Cantwell and Cole are adding a new tactic to their protest by targeting the NFL’s tax-exempt status as long as the league defends the name “Redskins.”
“The National Football league is on the wrong side of history,” Cantwell, a Washington state Democrat, and Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, write in their letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “It is not appropriate for this multibillion dollar 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization to perpetuate and profit from the continued degradation of tribes and Indian people.”
While individual football teams are taxed as business entities, the NFL itself, which is classified by the Internal Revenue Service as a “business league,” is exempt.
Cantwell and Cole also respond to Goodell’s remarks at a press conference last month ahead of the Super Bowl, in which the commissioner defended the Washington team by citing a 2004 poll of Native Americans in which only 9 percent said they found the name offensive. “This is the name of a football team, a football team that has had that name for 80 years,” Goodell said. “That has presented the name in a way that is honorable to Native Americans.”
In their letter, Cantwell and Cole are unconvinced by Goodell’s logic. “Saying the Washington football team ‘honored Native Americans’ perpetuates a charade that dishonors Native people and their governments and erodes the reputation of the National Football League,” they write. “The National Football League can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur.”
Tony Wyllie, the team’s spokesman, tells Washingtonian in an e-mail that Cole and Cantwell should buzz off.
“With all the important issues Congress has to deal with such as a war in Afghanistan to deficits to health care, don’t they have more important issues to worry about than a football team’s name?” Wyllie writes. “And given the fact that the name of Oklahoma means “Red People” in Choctaw, this request is a little ironic.”
However, the team’s name might actually be more in Cantwell’s and Cole’s purviews than Wyllie is willing to grant. Cantwell chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, while Cole is a member of the Chikasaw Nation.
In an effort to counter the ongoing criticism—or maybe just because it’s mid-February and a football team needs something to do—the Washington team is also pushing out a press release full of approving quotes from people identifying themselves as Native Americans. The press release, titled “Community Voices,” includes statements from Virginia and Maryland residents who agree with the team’s assessment that its name is an honorific. The team also claims that owner Dan Snyder has received more than 7,000 letters and e-mails since the beginning of the 2013 season.
“Community Voices” feels like a rehash of something the team did last February, when it responded to a Smithsonian symposium about Native American imagery in sports by trotting out profiles of high schools that use its name. But it’s not too surprising to see the franchise employ such an uncreative defense. After all, the team had the second-most ineffective defense during the 2013 season. At least the on- and off-field operations are consistent.
Letter to Roger Goodell
Don’t Miss Another Big Story—Get Our Weekend Newsletter
Our most popular stories of the week, sent every Saturday.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
Most Popular in News & Politics
DC Will Restart Parking Enforcement June 1
Stephen Gutowski Leaves Free Beacon to Start His Own Publication About Guns
DC Is Offering Free At-Home Covid Tests at Public Libraries
You Can Now Rent Picnic Boats at the Wharf
This Intriguing Series of Paintings Depicts the Capitol Fence
Washingtonian Magazine
March 2021: The Influencers
View IssueSubscribe
Get Us on Social
Get Us on Social
Related
Northern Virginia Schools Investigate Allegations of Racist Slurs at High School Football Games
A Very Short Guide to the Nats’ Confusing Minor-League Changes
The DMV Has 8 Teams in the Men’s NCAA Tournament. Here’s What to Know About Them.
DC Sports Teams Ask City for Permission to Host Some Fans
More from News & Politics
You Can See a Pair of Million-Dollar Koenigsegg Hypercars in Northern Virginia This Weekend
Protesters Will Dump Cow Poop in Front of the White House for Earth Day
A Big DC Sports Club Is Going to Pay a $100,000 Fine for Covid-Safety Violations
These Are the Most Influential People in the DC-Area Weed Business
Free Joints for Vaxxed People in DC Today
Disgraced Journalist Mark Halperin Was Hired by the Bipartisan Policy Group No Labels
Greater Greater Washington Names Chelsea Allinger Its New Executive Director
DC Officials Request National Guard in Preparation for Chauvin Verdict