Washington Football Team president Jason Wright said recently that the organization would unveil a new name and logo in early 2022 and we now know one potential name has been eliminated from the competition.
In a written piece posted to the team’s website, Wright said that the team believes “it is important to prioritize the views of those who have been hurt by our historical use of Native American language, iconography and imagery” when considering a new name. As a result, they have determined that “moving forward with no ties to Native American imagery is the right path” and that means Warriors has been discarded as a new name.
“In the spirit of that engagement, I want to address a name that has emerged amongst our fanbase, “Warriors.” One might look at this name as a natural, and even harmless transition considering that it does not necessarily or specifically carry a negative connotation,” Wright wrote. “But as we learned through our research and engagement with various groups, “context matters” and that makes it a “slippery slope.” Feedback from across communities we engaged clearly revealed deep-seated discomfort around Warriors, with the clear acknowledgment that it too closely aligns with Native American themes. Such an embrace of potentially Native-adjacent iconography and imagery would not represent a clear departure that many communities have so forcefully advocated for us to embrace, and that frankly, we set out to do when we started this process a year ago.”
Wright offered no other thoughts about potential monikers beyond saying that “our new name must reflect” the changes that they have made to the organization over the last year.