Redskins: Insult And Brand

The Washington Redskins franchise remains one of the most valuable in professional sports, in part because of its easily recognizable, popular, and profitable brand.


And yet redskins is a derogatory name for American Indians.


The number of grassroots campaigns to change the name has risen in recent years despite the current team owners assertion that the team will never do so.

Franchise owners counter criticism by arguing that the team name is positive and a term of respect and honor that many American Indians embrace. The NFL, for its part, actively defends the name and supports it in court.


Prominent journalists, politicians, and former players have publicly spoken out against the use of Redskins as the name of the team.

Sportscaster Bob Costas denounced the name as a racial slur during a halftime show in 2013. U.S. Representative Betty McCollum marched outside the stadium with other protestersamong them former Minnesota Vikings player Joey Brownerurging that the name be changed.


Redskins: Insult and Brand examines how the ongoing struggle over the team name raises important questions about how white Americans perceive American Indians, about the cultural power of consumer brands, and about continuing obstacles to inclusion and equality.

C. Richard King examines the history of the teams name, the evolution of the term redskin, and the various ways in which people both support and oppose its use today. Kings hard-hitting approach to the teams logo and mascot exposes the disturbing history of a monikers association with the NFLa multibillion-dollar entity that accepts public fundsas well as popular attitudes toward Native Americans today.