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The protest against some American professional sports franchises is still going on, we recently reported that the MLB commissioner had not received any official complaints in this regard. Several clubs are accused of having racist names, such as the Washington Redskins of the NFL and the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves MLB baseball teams. The most recent form of protest has been instigated by the Washington Post newspaper as it announced that its editorial board won’t refer to the Washington Redskins by their nickname any longer.

The newspaper’s editorial board released a press statement which said the NFL is behind the times and should change the name of its controversial teams out of common decency. Therefore, the paper said it won’t use the Redskins name unless it’s absolutely necessary since it views it as a slur. However, it’s just the editorial section of the newspaper that is objecting to the name and the rest of the publication will still use it. The editorial board added that it doesn’t believe the club and its fans harbor any racist feelings, but the word is an insult and nobody would call somebody a redskin to their face.

Mike Ditka, the famous former Chicago Bears coach said he can’t believe the fuss being made over Washington’s nickname and remarked, “We’re going to let the liberals of the world run this world. It was said out of reverence, out of pride to the American Indian.” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also supports the name.

Daniel Snyder, the owner of the NFL club, said the name represents respect, honour and pride and it’s a positive name that’s being taken out of context by protestors. He stated that the name honours Native Americans and he’s not going to change it, adding that he wouldn’t name his franchise after the people if he didn’t like them. But still, those who are on the politically correct bandwagon, including several television broadcasters, are refusing to use the word since they believe it’s offensive to Native North Americans.

The Redskins’ senior vice president of communications Tony Wyllie said he wasn’t surprised by the Washington Post’s announcement as he said the editorial board of the paper has been complaining about the name of the team for over30 years. He added that he wishes he board would visit several Native American reservations across the nation and see firsthand how much the Natives value the Redskins name and use it as a logo.

Some people have been opposed to the club’s name since the 1960s, but a larger campaign against it was launched in the past year. The Oneida Indian Nation tribe in New York State and the National Congress of American Indians are both against the club as they also believe the name is a racial slur. However, the Redskins may soon be more or less forced to change the name of the team since the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decided to cancel the franchise’s trademark registration a couple of months ago. Snyder is appealing that decision.