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The search for the new Washington football team name continues, but President Jason Wright has already ruled out some fan-approved selections.
In his “Weekly Brief” announcement on the team’s official website Monday, Wright explained that the team would not consider the fan-favorite “Warriors” suggestion as the team’s new name and logo. which will have no “connection with Native American imagery”.
“One might think of this name as a natural, if not harmless, transition, given that it does not necessarily or specifically have a negative connotation,” Wright wrote. “But as we’ve learned through our research and engagement with various groups, ‘context matters’ and that makes it a ‘slippery slope’. Feedback from every community we’ve engaged with clearly revealed a deep-rooted unease around Warriors, with the clear recognition that it aligns too closely with Native American themes.
“Such adoption of iconographies and images potentially adjacent to native people would not represent a clear departure that many communities have so strongly urged us to adopt, and which frankly we set out to do when we began this process there. a year ago. “
The Warriors moniker has become popular with fans online and was widely chosen in a survey of season ticket holders for new team names.
The Washington football team removed its old logo and name “Redskins” last summer. According to Wright, the removal process did not come down to fan approval levels, but rather to “research revealing the psychological effects of Native American team names on Native American and Alaskan youth.”
Since then, the team has been on the hunt for the new name and the right logo, a process that continues. The team will continue to be recognized as the Washington football team during the 2021 season, but plans to have their new name and logo by 2022.
Wright said the team name and logo change was “the right thing to do.” To move forward in the rebranding process, he points out that Washington wants to continue its “inclusive process to listen to all voices” with “particular emphasis on engaging, listening and learning from leaders. and Native Americans across the country “.
“We have 89 years of history in this league and not to acknowledge our past use of Indigenous imagery in considering the new name would ignore the individuals and communities who were hurt by the previous name. We have made significant changes in our organization and culture, and our new name must reflect those changes. To that end, we will choose an identity that unequivocally departs from any use or approximate connection to Native American imagery, ”he wrote.
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