‘Dear Culture’ looks at controversy surrounding Washington Football Team

This week on the Dear Culture podcast, our hosts sit with Indigenous activist Julian Brave Noisecat to ask the pertinent question: 'Dear Culture, what’s the power of a symbol?'

Football has been America’s favorite pastime for a long time. The upcoming 2020 NFL season, like many things this year, has been turned upside down. The NFL made a pledge back in March that the season would go as planned as other sports organizations have cancelled their seasons.

As our world continues to change, former Washington Redskins announced that they’ll be changing their name. Activists have been calling for this change for decades due to the offensive name, mascot and use of Native and Indigenous peoples. This week on the Dear Culture podcast, hosts theGrio’s Vice President of Digital Content Natasha S. Alford and Senior Editor Mariel Turner sit with Indigenous activist Julian Brave Noisecat to ask the pertinent question: “Dear Culture, what’s the power of a symbol?”

Read More: ‘Dear Culture’ examines how to navigate back to school time amid the pandemic

Washington owner Daniel Snyder once said he’ll never change the team’s name. The name change came after mounting pressure from sponsors, such as NIKE and FedEx, to threaten to revoke their sponsorship. Money talks and in a time social awareness, the people’s pockets have been creating change. 

“When Black Lives Matter changes the conversation, that has benefited Native peoples because that changed the conversation on the subject of Natives mascots,” says Noisecat.

The Washington Football Team is not the only sports affiliation that is offensive to Native and Indigenous peoples of the U.S. Though Noisecat says it’s not on the top of the agenda for him, a name change is a win. The activist notes that it’s not only white people who partake in this offensive symbolism of Natives people—he’s seen people of color wear offensive sports gear. He adds that he never has really known how to have a conversation about this topic.

Philadelphia Eagles v Washington Football Team
The helmet of Keith Ismael #60 of the Washington Football Team is shown before their game against the Philadelphia Eagles at FedExField on September 13, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

“It not only represents a stereotypical fact of Native people’s skin color. The term also itself references the scalps taken from Native people on the frontier,” remarks Noisecat.

A Black activist friend of Noisecat mentioned once that the former name of the Washington team is as offensive as naming a team “Baltimore’s Strange Fruit.” Native mascots represent and reify racist views of Indigenous peoples. In peer review studies, stereotypical symbols activate racial bias, hence disbanding the name is important to the struggle of liberation.

Read More: ‘Dear Culture’ unpacks the new Black Hollywood

For Noisecat, he does get hopeful. Recognizing how Black people have been pushing the dial for liberation, he thinks “justice, progress, and the right leaders” can actually make change happen for people in this country that have survived genocide, slavery, and discrimination. 

Tune in Dear Culture, the smart, reliable Black news podcast. Now streaming on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Stitcher.

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!

SHARE THIS ARTICLE