by Mandy Stussman ’14

On September 15, two-dozen protesters stood in the cold and rain outside the Packer’s stadium with signs and shouts, dying to be heard. They were protesting our team, our homeboys, the very name that draws the Washington D.C. area together; The Redskins.

The term “redskin” was once used as a descriptor for someone of Native American decent, though it has not been used in common speech since the 1960s; modern American dictionaries define the term as “insulting” or “taboo.” And yet this word taints our nation, constantly coming up in speech as people use it to describe our beloved football team. This word hurts. It makes people feel uncomfortable and outcast. As NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said, “If one person is offended, we have to listen.” The Washington community can’t keep justifying the use of the term because changing it would be inconvenient. Even though fans don’t mean any harm by saying it, it still harms.