As the Washington Redskins continue to combat claims that their team name is a racial slur, they frequently point to the fact that many American high schools use the “Redskins” name, too. But an uncomfortable fact for Washington’s NFL team is that many of those high schools are coming to agree with the American Indians who say the name is offensive, and dropping the name.
The latest high school to do so is Canisteo-Greenwood in New York, where Superintendent Charles H. Clemens told the local newspaper that after meeting with a representative of the New York State Office of Native American Services, the district will not “keep the Redskins name.”
Canisteo-Greenwood is the second high school in New York to eliminate the Redskins name this year. High schools in Massachusetts and California that were once called the Redskins have also changed their names. Miami University in Ohio once called its teams the Redskins but switched to RedHawks in 1996.
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder insists that he will never change the name of his team. If that’s true, his franchise may end up being the last sports team anywhere that still uses the name Redskins.