Calls for Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to change the team's nickname are starting to come from overseas.
Two members of the U.K. Parliament, Ruth Smeeth and Ian Austin, sent a sharply worded letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell requesting the league to force Snyder's hand in changing the moniker. Either that, or "at the minimum, send a different team to our country to represent the sport, one that does not promote a racial slur."
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The Redskins are scheduled to play the Bengals in London's Wembley Stadium next season as part of the NFL's efforts to expand American football internationally.
"We were shocked to learn the derivation of the term 'R*dskin,' pertaining as it does to the historic abuse of native Americans," the letter read. "The exportation of this racial slur to the UK this autumn, when the Washington team is due to play, directly contravenes the values that many in Britain have worked so hard to instill."
The Redskins nickname is considered by many to be derogatory toward indigenous peoples. The Merriam-Webster dictionary recognizes the term as "very offensive," and one that "should be avoided." But Snyder has insisted the moniker is intended to honor Native Americans, and has refused demands to change it, despite intense public and political pushback.
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A league spokesperson confirmed to ESPN that Goodell received the letter, saying, "A team's name is a club decision. We recognize there are strong views on both sides of this." The NFL initially stood behind Snyder when calls for change began two years ago, but has since adopted and maintained a neutral stance.
Smeeth told ESPN in a separate telephone interview that in January she and Austin met with leaders of the Change the Mascot campaign, which originally brought about the social movement. Smeeth also expressed concerns over the U.K.'s strict anti-racism policies in sports that may affect the promotion and broadcasting of the game on the publicly owned British Broadcasting Corporation.
"We're quite clear that sport is a vehicle for cultural change and celebration of what's best about society rather than hate and division," Smeeth told ESPN. "That's why bringing in new racial slurs to Britain is unacceptable. This is not the way we would want Native Americans introduced to our country."
