Oneida nation, NFL meet about ‘Redskins’ Name
By Peter Smith
The two sides met for a 90 minute meeting about the name as well as the logo and in a stunning turn of events, it was revealed that the Oneida nation does not think a racial slur in regards to its people is a positive or unifying term. Further, the Oneida nation suggested to the NFL that they should sanction Washington owner Daniel Snyder for the continued use of the name and logo.
The Oneida nation came away disappointed with the NFL and painted the representatives that showed up for the meeting including Jeff Pash, Adolpho Birch and Paul Hicks (all senior executives) defended the use of the “racist name” according to Joel Barkin, the Oneida nation representative. NFL commisioner Roger Goodell was not in attendance. The Oneida nation requested another meeting during the week of the Super Bowl.
Both sides have described this as an ongoing process, but the Oneida nation does not seem to be backing down from this issue. Capitalizing on momentum of recent outrage from fans of the NFL which has included a number of respected journalists who have refused to use the team’s name in print, the Oneida nation sees the opportunity to end an injustice of an NFL franchise with an ugly history of racism that has not been limited to Native Americans. It is unclear how seriously the NFL or Snyder is really taking this momentum, but the issue is not going away at this point in time.