While we're on the subject of mogul money, we noticed that Washington's highly unpopular football team owner (and Republican contributor) Daniel "Li'l Danny" Snyder has announced the creation of a foundation to support activities benefiting Native Americans. Facing mounting criticism of the "Redskins" name as racist, including a recent decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the term "Redskins" was derogatory, Li'l Danny sprang into action (after several years) and has so far supplied such items as winter coats, athletic shoes and a back hoe to some tribes. Pardon our cynicism, but this looks like a case of trying to buy off the jury.
In his letter to fans announcing the
"As a team, we have honored them through our words and on the field, but now we will honor them through our actions.""We have honored them through our words…." The "word" at the heart of the controversy, of course, is the derogatory team name which Li'l Danny has aggressively and stubbornly refused to consider changing, and that's not honoring Native Americans, even the ones he's trying to buy off.
Meanwhile, Li'l Danny isn't fooling Native Americans. Ray Halbritter, Representative of the Oneida Indian Nation, had a wonderful response to Li'l Danny's gambit:
“We’re glad that after a decade of owning the Washington team, Mr. Snyder is finally interested in Native American heritage, and we are hopeful that when his team finally stands on the right side of history and changes its name, he will honor the commitments to Native Americans that he is making.”
“We are also hopeful that in his new initiative to honor Native Americans’ struggle, Mr. Snyder makes sure people do not forget that he and his predecessor George Preston Marshall, a famous segregationist, have made our people’s lives so much more difficult by using a racial slur as the Washington team’s name.”(image: "How do you like me now, reds..er, Original Americans?")
