Amanda Blackhorse, the lead plaintiff in the Redskins trademark case, said a Navajo high school and Native Americans can refer to themselves as “Redskins” but Daniel Snyder and the Washington football team can’t.
When ESPN host Bob Ley asked her about the Red Mesa High School Redskins on an Outside The Lines special on the controversy over the Redskins name, Blackhorse, who also compared those who are offended by the name to domestic abuse victims, said there was a difference between the Red Mesa Redskins and the Washington Redskins.
“We can call ourselves whatever we want to call ourselves. You can’t, Dan Snyder. You cannot refer to us in that manner,” Blackhorse, who belongs to the Navajo Nation, said. “What happens in your games and the type of stereotyping and mocking of our culture does not happen in the games here on the Navajo Nation. We don’t refer to ourselves in that way.”
She then blasted Snyder for not understanding the concept of “internalized oppression” and accused Snyder of perpetuating it.
“He needs to understand what internalized oppression is and how he is perpetuating that in our community” she said. “He’s buying people off who have next to nothing and perpetuating and damaging people in that matter. He’s perpetuating internalized oppression of our people.”
Blackhorse said Snyder’s charitable ventures on reservations were “laughable” and “people can see right through it. Natives and non-natives can see right through it.”
“If he has any heart, If he is concerned, he will change the name,” she said. “That’s all there is to it.”
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