'The term is a racial slur': New Washington Commanders owners dredge up painful history

Washington coach Ron Rivera was asked about how people in the organization were again using the team's old nickname, which is a dictionary-defined racial slur.

"Well, I know this," Rivera said recently, "(Washington owner) Mr. (Josh) Harris and that ownership group talked extensively about bringing back the glory. And again, what Coach (Joe) Gibbs did, the traditions, that alumni group of guys that are around. It's hard to escape it. It really is. That's just the truth of the matter. Just so everybody knows, we do that with the utmost respect for the Native tribes and for the American Indian. Anytime that's brought up, it is brought up with the utmost of respect."

Except, using that word isn't respectful. At all. In any way.

The Washington Times reported this month that Harris and other members have referenced the name on more than a few occasions.

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Here we go again. This has been discussed and litigated. Why are we doing this? Do the new owners understand the pain that word can cause? I think they do get it now but they've made a massive mistake talking about the nickname up to this point.

"For nearly 90 years, this franchise had a different name, and many have fond memories of cheering for that team and watching it win three Super Bowls," a team spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. "This does not signify any shift in our approach nor does it change the valid reasons for dropping the name."

All of this brings us to Crystal Echo Hawk.

Echo Hawk, the founder and executive director of IllumiNative, was among several Native groups and people at the forefront fighting to change the racist nickname. It was finally changed in 2020 and the new name was selected soon after that.

It will go down as one of the most successful campaigns in sports history. But it didn't come without a lengthy fight that lasted decades.

More backgroundHow Native women activists fought racist Washington team nickname and won | Opinion

But like others, Echo Hawk was alarmed at the increasing use of the old nickname by the new group. So she released a statement on Wednesday that is poignant but also remarkably powerful. It's long but worth reading in its entirety.

“It has come to our attention that the new owners of the Washington Commanders have been referring to the team with their old team name," Echo Hawk said in the statement, obtained by USA TODAY Sports. "Let us be very clear–the R-word is the equivalent to the N-word for Native Americans. The term is a racial slur that is deeply offensive and derogatory towards our peoples. It is extremely disheartening and, quite frankly, exhausting that we continue to have these conversations about Native mascots, when time and time again Native peoples have made it clear that these mascots are racist and offensive.  And it’s not just Native peoples speaking out against this, the #ChangeTheName movement in 2020 had millions of supporters..."

"This is certainly emblematic of a larger issue of ignorance in this country, and we hope to use this moment as an educational opportunity with the Washington Commanders team and the sports world more broadly," she said. "Native mascots do not honor our people–they dehumanize us, objectify our culture, and have been scientifically proven to lower self-esteem among Native youth.

"There is no world in which the use of the R word is not harmful, and the majority of Native youth under 34 do not believe that names like this honor Native people. We look forward to this next chapter of leadership for the Washington Commanders and hope that they don’t ignore the decades of work led by Native activists to get the name removed in the first place. This is an opportunity for Josh Harris, Magic Johnson, and the rest of the ownership group to take the team’s commitment to end systemic racism to heart and bring the team back to their 'glory days' without perpetuating harm towards Native peoples.”

The R-word is problematic because it's a slur. It's been one for decades if not longer. The Washington team changed its name because of this. These are facts. They know all these facts.

Maybe they get it now but it should have never reached this point.

Hopefully it never will again.