Snyder Inadvertently Putting a Fork in His Team’s Racist Nickname
By Ken Reed
I’ve written several times in the past that the Redskins nickname is dead in Washington. It’s not a question of if, but when.
But thanks to Redskins’ owner Dan Snyder, that time could come sooner than later.
As Colin McGowan wrote in a recent SportsOnEarth column, “It’s genuinely astounding that every damn time the Redskins try to sway public opinion on this issue, they embarrass themselves further. They could not be worse at this.”
Washington’s NFL franchise recently launched a #RedskinsPride campaign, asking fans to let Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) — an outspoken opponent of the Redskins nickname — know how much they support the Redskins nickname. The team tweeted: “Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you.” The team also emailed fans asking them to contact Sen. Reid.
As McGowan tells it:
“the Washington Redskins recently did something spectacularly dumb, so let’s talk about that. Two weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter signed by half the U.S. Senate to the NFL, urging its leadership to put pressure on Dan Snyder to change his franchise’s racist nickname. Someone in Snyder’s stable of demonstrably overpaid flacks thought it would be a good idea to counter that letter with a hashtag campaign, which would allow Washington fans to — the logic gets fuzzy here — publicly express their support for a slur.”
One thing’s for sure: Snyder’s bonehead PR strategy is speeding up the process that will ultimately result in the demise of a racist nickname.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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