‘It’s time to put this to bed’: Native American groups push back on Trump’s effort to change the Commanders’ name

President Donald Trump has threatened to upend the Washington Commanders proposed deal to secure a new stadium in D C if they don t return to the former name it was called from until The Washington Whatever s should AT ONCE change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Club There is a big clamoring for this Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday A leader at one Native American advocacy group revealed it s time to close the book on this debate This conversation has been going on for over years revealed Matthew Campbell deputy director of the Native American Rights Fund which advocates for issues critical to the Native American area He recounted WTOP several groups have established the former name as a racist slur though that is widely disputed The name has been changed so there s no need to go back and tread old ground here he disclosed In the American Psychological Association recommended the name change and that of other teams based on research showing the harmful effects of racial stereotyping and inaccurate racial portrayals including the particularly harmful effects of American Indian sports mascots on the social identity rise and self-esteem of American Indian young people Does Trump have the authority to meddle in the stadium deal In the words of George Washington University adjunct political science professor Julius Hobson Yes Two points one is the Home Rule charter does give the federal establishment that power to intervene Hobson mentioned Also when Congress created the control board in the s even though the control board itself has gone out of existence the statute still remains That gives broad authority to the federal cabinet over D C affairs and it appears the administration intends on using that authority The president has the authority to step in whenever he wants Hobson disclosed He cited a matter in which then President Lyndon B Johnson tried to get home rule through Congress The effort was blocked So he issued an executive order eliminating the three commissioners in place to oversee D C on behalf of Congress Johnson then created an appointed mayor and city council which became the local form of administration which was later subject to the city electorate Still Campbell criticized the administration for trying to strong arm the city over perceived wokeness Names like the R-word and others that have been utilized as mascots and depictions of Native people are extremely harmful to Native youth Campbell commented It s time to put this to bed Source