A group called the Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) has threatened to organize a nationwide boycott of the NFL’s Washington Commanders should they not revert back to their historical team name, the Washington Redskins.
A Washington Redskins helmet in 2019 Photo Credit: All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
In an official statement released on X, formerly known as Twitter, NAGA stated that they sent a formal letter to the “Washington ‘Commanders’ Ownership & Key Leadership Formally Requesting The Team Revitalize it’s Relationship With The American Indian Community & Rightfully Change Their Name Back to ‘The Redskins.'”
In the letter, they called out “cancel culture” and accused the team of whitewashing (no pun intended) the Native American community’s “steadfast role in American history, including serving as counselors to the Founding Fathers in the creation of the U.S. constitution.”
Source: GuardiansNative on X
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“At this moment in history, we are formally requesting that the team revitalize its relationship with the American Indian community by (i) changing the name back to ‘The Redskins’ which recognizes America’s original inhabitants and (ii) using the team’s historic name and legacy to encourage Americans to learn about, not cancel, the history of America’s tribes and our role in the founding of this Great Nation,” the letter stated.
They didn’t stop there though, they straight up threaten to ‘Bud Light’ the Commanders if the team doesn’t comply.
“Should we need to encourage a national boycott similar to what happened with Anheuser Busch (Bud Light) which is now down $27 billion (note, not one brick thrown, not one highway blocked, not one bridge burned) — WE WILL DO JUST THAT.”
Source: GuardiansNative on X
The letter concluded that this “oppression and arbitrary and capricious recognition of U.S. history and Constitutional rights is not acceptable,” and that this matters immensely to them because if “you don’t acknowledge history, we are doomed to repeat it.”
NAGA has spent years fighting efforts to rename schools and mascots that are named after Native Americans, with mixed results. They’ve also met with some controversy over the identity of a board member.
Do you support changing the name of the Washington Commanders back to the Redskins? Let us know in the comments below and across social media.