Take that, Washington football team.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) turned down an invitation to attend a Washington Redskins home game at FedExField, in a letter to Washington Redskins President Bruce Allen dated June 12 and released Monday.
The senator also made clear that he will not attend another Redskins game until the sports team “chooses to do the right thing and change its offensive name.”
In the letter, Reid called the Redskins-name-controversy “deeply personal,” noting that he represents 27 Native American tribes as a senator for Nevada.
Reid also broadcasted his message on Twitter, with a pithy tweet that reads, “Dear Washington football team management, Thanks for the invite, but I won’t consider it until you change the name.”
Reid’s rejection of the invite comes after several weeks of debate about whether the football team’s name is racially offensive, a long-standing discussion that was re-ignited in late May when Reid and 49 other senators signed a letter petitioning the NFL to change the Redskins team name.
In a May response to Reid’s name-change campaign, Redskins President Bruce Allen pointed out that the term “originated as a Native American expression of solidarity,” that the Redskin “logo was designed by Native Americans,” and that a recent, well-respected survey has indicated that “90 percent of Native Americans do not find the name offensive.”
Of course, in the letter Allen also expressed his hope that Reid would attend a Redskins home game in FedExField, where he assured the senator he “would witness first-hand that the Washington Redskins are a positive, unifying force for our community in a region and city that is divided on so many levels.”
