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The Perversely Persistent R******s: How Long the Insult?

Presenters

Ron Denson

Abstract

While pressure continues to build on Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington NFL franchise, to change the name of his team, no action on that front seems imminent. Another season with the nation’s capitol represented in the U.S.’s most popular professional sports league by an undeniably racist mascot appears to confirm business as usual, as seen from activist Native perspectives. This paper will examine both mainstream and Native responses to this expression of “business as usual,” examining what seems to be at stake for both sides and what resolution, if any, might be possible.