An elementary school in suburban Maryland, has decided they will no longer allow their students to wear anything with the name or logo of the Washington Redskins.
Green Acres School, located in the affluent suburb of Bethesda, Maryland., notified parents of the decision via a letter on the school website. The letter read, “the term ‘Redskin’ is a racial slur. Its use, whether intentional or not, can be deeply insulting and offensive.”
Neal M. Brown, the head of Green Acres, says that the students themselves brought the issue to the faculty while studying Native Americans. The issue was discussed again, primarily among third and sixth graders, during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day discussion of racial and ethnic logo’s in sports. The school administration then talked about the issue and how best to deal with it.
Brown said in the letter to posted to the school website, “It is a term that demeans a group of people. Similarly, the team’s logo also can reasonably be viewed as racially demeaning. At best, the image is an ethnic stereotype that promotes cultural misunderstanding; at worst, it is intensely derogatory.”
The letter specifically requests that parents, “not send your children to school wearing clothing with either the team name or logo in the year and years to come.” It says that the head of school will be speaking with students to share with them his decision “and to enlist their understanding and support” and it invites parents to reach out with any questions they may have “about how to discuss this with your child.”
A 2016 Washington Post poll found that 90% of Native Americans were not offended by the Washington Redskins name. According to 2016 census data, American Indians and Alaskan Natives make up 0.1% of Bethesda’s population.
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