After receiving immense pressure from advertisers and the public over the past few weeks, owner Dan Snyder has agreed to begin the process of discussing a change to their teams name. The organization released the following statement:
“In light of recent events around our country and feedback from our community, the Washington Redskins are announcing the team will undergo a thorough review of the team’s name. This review formalizes the initial discussions the team has been having with the league in recent weeks. We believe that this review can and will be conducted with the best interest of all in mind.”
Snyder also added a statement of his own saying “‘This process allows the team to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise but also input from our alumni, the organization, sponsors, the National Football League and the local community it is proud to represent on and off the field.” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell added that he is “supportive of this important step.”
Translation: the protests worked. It wasn’t another murder of an innocent black man. It wasn’t another horrific video that followed. It was the millions of people that marched and said enough is enough. BLM was so loud and powerful that the biggest companies in the world have realizes their bottom line is being affected by not conforming. Nike, Pepsi, and FedEx have all said they don’t want to advertise with the Redskins if they keep their outdated and out of touch name.
Are these billionaires more socially conscious and less racist? No. Does black lives matter finally have them cornered and they have to comply to their demands of equality? Looks like it.
