The Washington Post announced Friday it won't be using the term "Redskins" anymore in editorials referring to the local National Football League, declaring the "name unquestionably offends not only many Native Americans but many other Americans, too."
The editorial board wrote it had been urging a name change for 22 years.
"The word is insulting," the board wrote. "You would not dream of calling anyone a 'redskin' to his or her face. You wouldn’t let your son or daughter use it about a person, even within the privacy of your home."
The newspaper said the decision would affect only its own editorials, and not news or sports stories.
"Nor do we intend to impose our policy on our readers," it said. "If you write a letter about football and want to use the team name, we aren’t going to stop you."
The editorial board noted retired referee
Mike Carey had asked the NFL in 1996 not to assign him to officiate any Washington games because "it just became clear to me that to be in the middle of the field, where something disrespectful is happening, was probably not the best thing for me."
"We hope [team owner Daniel] Snyder and the NFL will acknowledge that truth sooner rather than later," the board wrote. "In the meantime, we’ll do our best not to contribute to the disrespect."
In May,
50 senators wrote to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell demanding he press for a name change. Earlier this week, ex-NFL player and coach
Mike Ditka blasted "liberals" and "politically correct idiots" who are calling for the change.