RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – Readers of The Richmond Free Press will no longer see the nickname “Redskins” within the newspaper.
In its latest editorial the paper said it is “expunging the nickname of the Washington professional football team from its news and editorial columns.”
The weekly paper whose mission is “to empower its readers by contributing to the balance of news reporting and commentary in the Richmond area; and, simultaneously, to educate its readers about important issues touching their lives and to motivate them to be fully heard on these issues” called the nickname “insulting to Native Americans, racist and divisive.”
In the editorial, it suggested the City of Richmond and Bon Secours Richmond Health System “reconsider the negative implications of their identification with (Washington Redskins owner) Daniel Snyder.”
This year the Washington Redskins moved its summer training camp to Richmond. Bon Secours Richmond Health System helped fund the team's new training center.
In Washington D.C., the name even came up for debate in school classrooms.
A student at Woodrow Wilson High asked the school's principal to ban Redskins' clothing from school. The school's student government is expected to debate the idea, according to WUSA 9.
The principal said he's not taking a side, rather wanted to use this as a teaching opportunity.
One newspaper took the issue even further. In an editorial cartoon, the New York Daily News compared the Redskins name and logo to that of the Nazi flag and Confederate Battle flag. A political cartoon, drawn by Tom Stiglich called all three, "Archaic Symbols of Pride and Heritage."