The push against the Redskins name has intensified in recent weeks. Public opinion has yet to follow.
An Associated Press poll conducted form April 11 through 15 of 1,004 adults found that 79 percent didn’t believe the Redskins should change their name. Another 11 percent disagreed, eight percent weren’t sure, and two percent didn’t answer.
The last national poll on the issue came in 1992, with 89 percent saying at the time that the name should not be changed.
“That’s who they’ve been forever. That’s who they’re known as,” one person polled last month told the Associated Press. “I think we as a people make race out to be a bigger issue than it is.”
“With everything that Native Americans have gone through in this country, to have a sports team named the Redskins -- come on, now. It’s bad,” another person said. “Much farther down the road, we’re going to look back on this and say, ‘Are you serious? Did they really call them the Washington Redskins?’ It’s a no-brainer.”
The most important constituency consists of one person: owner Daniel Snyder. He’s 100 percent certain the name is staying, at least for as long as he owns the team.