A disagreement that festered for decades will reportedly take a new turn Monday when Washington’s National Football League team announces a new name for the team.
But that might not be the end of the story.
A change in the name, which some say was chosen to honor a Native American player and others say keeps a slur in our national conversation, will not likely pass quietly.
The times that deliver this change, resisted for so long by owners and some fans, are also witness to heightened battles over monuments, product brands (which is what a team name is) and equity. This battle could be the most widely debated of all. The Chicago Blackhawks hockey team last week defended its decision to stick with its name, calling it an honorific.
Usually, when a sports jersey is retired, it is a cause for celebration. This is different. People will be putting on the jerseys in defiance.
There will be a backlash that makes the name more prominent for a while, and then most of us will get used to the new name. Some news outlets retired the mascot name years ago, opting for “Washington’s football team” as a standard option or one that individual journalists may choose on their own.
One hopes that, after the initial splash, we can get down to talking about the issues that led to the choice of the name, its defense and now, apparently, its demise.
“100 Questions, 500 Nations: A Guide to Native America” is available from Amazon or the Front Edge Publishing bookstore.
