By Ken Reed
Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins NFL franchise, continues to defend his team’s racist nickname despite a growing chorus calling for the end of the Redskins moniker.
And he’s doing it in ways that make him look increasingly foolish.
First, there was a guy calling himself Mark One Wolf who showed up as a VIP at a Redskins practice and quickly became the face of the save-the-Redskins-name movement. Problem is he might not be an American Indian at all.
“For all that he says he is, there is not one single tribe that claims him,” says Eugene Herrod, of the Southern California Indian Center (SCIC).
“Nobody knows who he is. Everything we’ve found about him and his parents indicates that they identify as African American. As far as I can tell, I think he’s read a lot about Indians, but that doesn’t make him an Indian.”
Last week, Snyder had Ben Shelly, the disgraced outgoing president of the Navajo Nation, sitting next to him in his owners box in an attempt to try to convince people that Navajos don’t consider the Redskins name racist. Shelly agreed to sit with Snyder despite his tribal council voting 9-2 to oppose the Redskins name.
Ben Shelly, who was so popular with his tribe that he finished seventh in the primary election back in August, has en ethically-challenged background and his endorsement of Snyder and the Redskins name can’t help Snyder’s cause.
Snyder’s cause may taken another hit this week when far right political commentator Glenn Beck is scheduled to be Snyder’s guest in the owner’s box.
Here’s the beauty of Dan Snyder: The more he is allowed to just be Dan Snyder, the sooner we can be rid of Washington’s racist and derogatory nickname.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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