The controversy surrounding whether Washington’s NFL team should change its "Redskins" nickname reached another level on Thursday, when half of the United States senate urged the league to force the franchise to do so.
The NFL continues to try and put a positive spin on a racial slur, while owner Daniel Snyder is downright defiant that his team remain the Redskins — now and forever.
If public and political pressure force Snyder's hand, there’s only alternative nickname that works: The Americans.
Not to be confused with the FX drama or Washington women’s ice hockey team that owns the required new dot-com, “Americans” also represents the happiest possible medium in the touchiest of sports subjects.
Back in October, when the Oneida Nation held a Redskins name-change symposium in Washington, Americans was the name suggested by Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Indian.
"The point is that it's about context," Gover said then, via USA Today. "If you called them the Americans and had a contemporary Native image, that's inclusive. That's much different from singling us out and calling us by that name and having the image of a stereotypical Native American from the 19th Century, as though we're not still around."
Gover’s point was that the team could still represent everything “Redskins” and maintain its proud imagery even when called something different.
Snyder has been unwavering. But as the smart billionaire he is, it hasn’t been lost on him to appeal to the potentially offended Native American community. To help diffuse the PR bomb, he decided to create an assistance foundation in March.
How convenient. The foundation’s name even mentions the best new nickname in the same breath as the old one: The Washington Redskins Original Americans.
With Americans, there’s no need to change the logo or color scheme, just the name. If the NFL and Snyder can come around and see the opponents’ perspective, they'll find Americans to be the most agreeable choice.
What shouldn’t be agreeable to either side: other colloquial synonyms such as Braves, Indians and Warriors. With those type of alternatives, Snyder and Washington might as well keep the Redskins.
Then there are those suggestions that keep “Red” in the name, such as the Miami of Ohio-like Red Hawks or the Tuskegee Airmen-honoring Red Tails. The "Red” is the part of “Redskins” that emphasizes the slur. There’s no reason to keep that element, and it’s lazy to do so.
Washington has handled a recent nickname change, and Redskins to Americans is as warranted as Bullets to Wizards. In tune with Washington’s current sports landscape, Americans also rings as a nice complement to Major League Baseball’s Nationals and the National Hockey League’s Capitals.
As for that Cowboys vs. Indians feel of the Cowboys-Redskins archrivalry, that changes to something even better: Americans vs. America’s Team. Americans vs. Eagles is pretty star-spangled-riffic, too.
“Americans” works on so many levels, it’s the ultimate compromise. Most important, it allows the NFL and Washington to move from an archaic name that offends many to a patriotic name in which everyone can have great pride.
