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As NFL Opens Season, Congresswoman Renews Call for Washington Football Team to Change The Mascot

September 8, 2016

WASHINGTON — Ahead of this evening’s National Football League season opener, Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn.), co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, issued the following statement on the Washington football team’s racist name and mascot:

“The National Football League starts another season tonight in which Commissioner Roger Goodell and team owners are profiting from a racist team name and mascot that mocks Native Americans as nineteenth-century caricature. The NFL’s Washington Red****s team name and mascot is a testament to racial bigotry and commercial exploitation. No other race, ethnicity or religious group in America is treated with such disrespect. I am calling on NFL players and fans of all races to stand up and speak out against the NFL’s racist treatment of Native Americans. It’s time to change the mascot.”