Racism! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Marion Barry urges Redskins to drop name in flurry
> of tweets about racism
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/marion-barry-u
> rges-redskins-to-drop-name-in-flurry-of-tweets-abo
> ut-racism/2014/01/31/d5544d6a-8aa9-11e3-916e-e0153
> 4b1e132_story.html
>
> Marion Barry waded into the controversial waters
> of the Redskins name Friday, sending a flurry of
> tweets that touched on race and challenged team
> owner Daniel Snyder to pick a name that would make
> everyone proud.
>
> “It’s Super Bowl time. 4 Washington, we should
> reflect not on the loss of games, but our loss of
> honor. Dan, YOU CAN redeem it. Do what’s
> right,” the D.C. Council member and former mayor
> tweeted Friday morning, followed by, “C’mon
> Dan. Let’s elevate this conversation. Do you
> want to be remembered as stubborn or loved for
> standing up against a racist past?”
>
> By mid-afternoon, the Ward 8 Democrat who was
> recently released from the hospital had sent more
> than a dozen tweets on the topic, linking several
> times to a two-minute ad released recently by the
> National Congress of American Indians. The ad,
> entitled “Proud to be,” goes through the many
> names Native Americans call themselves, and the
> one they don’t.
>
> At least two of Barry’s tweets implied the
> team’s name is backed by non-minorities who
> can’t understand what it means to be the target
> of racism.
>
> “I do note that most of the people who dont want
> to change the name haven’t been the subject of
> slurs. Walk in our shoes to know how it feels,”
> read one tweet. Another: “Why do these
> Whiteskins on twitter get so angry when someone
> challenges them on their cont. use of Redskins
> slur? Doesn’t sound nice does it?”
>
> Barry, who is no stranger to racial controversy,
> is the latest high-profile figure to come out
> against the team’s name, which has been
> described by its opponents as a slur against
> Native Americans. President Obama has said that if
> he were the team’s owner, he would think about
> changing the name. Sportswriters, clergy leaders,
> civil rights groups and Native American leaders
> have also been vocal about the need for a change.
>
>
> Snyder has said that he will never change the
> team’s name, and in a letter to fans last year,
> he called it a “badge of honor.” Team
> executives have consistently pointed to a
> decade-old poll that show the majority of Native
> Americans do not find the name offensive.
>
> On Friday, during his state-of-the-NFL address in
> New York, National Football League Commissioner
> Roger Goodell defended the name when asked whether
> he would feel comfortable addressing an American
> Indian as “Redskin” to his face.
>
> “I’ve been spending the last year talking to
> many of the leaders in the Native American
> communities,” Goodell said. “We are listening.
> We are trying to make sure we understand the
> issues. Let me remind you: This is the name of a
> football team, a football team that’s had that
> name for 80 years and has presented the name in a
> way that it has honored Native Americans.”
>
> The Oneida Indian Nation of New York, which has
> been one of the most vocal opponents of the
> team’s name, issued a news release afterward,
> calling Goodell’s comments “deeply
> troubling.”
>
> “Commissioner Goodell represents a $9-billion
> brand with global reach, yet insists that it is
> somehow no big deal that his league uses those
> vast resources to promote this slur,” Oneida
> representative Ray Halbritter said in the release.
Marion Barry telling anybody to "do what's right". That's rich!