Despite President Trump’s statements, not all Native Americans support his calls for the Washington Commanders to revert to the Redskins.
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At the start of his one-sided war of words with the Washington Commanders, President Trump made a claim that Native Americans want the Redskins name to make a comeback.
“Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen,” Trump stated. “Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!”
Trump seemingly threatened the team. He warned that if they did not revert to the Redskins, he would become involved in the new stadium plans.
However, numerous Native Americans have come forward and pushed back against the claims.
Jacqueline De León, senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, spoke to USA Today about the situation. “No Native American child should have to sit through a pep rally or in a stadium where their culture is being mocked,” De León stated.
Savannah Romero, a member of the Eastern Shoshone Nation and co-founder/deputy director of the Black Liberation-Indigenous Sovereignty (BLIS), also spoke out against President Trump’s push to bring back the Redskins.
“We are language keepers, land protectors, survivors of attempted genocide, and a part of sovereign nations,” she explained. “To equate Native people with cartoonish mascots alongside animals is a gross and ongoing tactic of dehumanization.”
Native Americans Believe They Are Being Used As a Distraction
De León believes the situation is another example of the Native American population being used as a distraction.
The Washington Commanders versus President Trump situation erupted just weeks after the Native American Rights Fund pushed for a ban against using Native American mascots.
However, the Department of Education claimed that such a ban would be “an unlawful attempt to ban mascots and logos that celebrate Native American history.”
De León disagrees with the Department of Education. She also stated the challenge is part of a “larger narrative” by the Trump Administration. Among the other issues the administration has been involved in include “muddy the waters and undermine civil rights protections.”
“Native Americans are being used as tools for a distraction,” she noted. “That’s very disrespectful to the pain and suffering imposed on Native people by inaccurately depicting our culture.”
De León then pointed out that it’s not racist to push back against racism. She noted that as a DC resident, it hurts her to see people wearing shirts with the Redskins name.
“I don’t even like to say the word because it’s a slur,” she said.
Beth Wright, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, agreed with De León. She said the United States has long tried to erase Native identity and culture.
“Native people are still working to revitalize what the United States tried to erase,” she said. “Native mascots work directly against these efforts by perpetuating false historical narratives about Native people and false depictions of who Native people are today.”