The UCC's General Synod passed a resolution yesterday encouraging a denomination-wide boycott of the Washington Redskins football games and merchandise until the team finally dropped its "Redskins" name and mascot:
The Monday resolution takes the boycott national. It called on the NFL franchise to “change its team name and to refrain from the use of any images, mascots, or behaviors that are harmful or demeaning to Native American cultures or peoples,” said the Rev. Linda Jaramillo, a national officer of the UCC, in a press release.The UCC's General Synod also passed a resolution, renewing it's long-standing condemnation of Native American imagery for sports teams, particularly the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo mascot.
“The use of the term ‘Redskins’ for the team mascot and nickname of the Washington football team is offensive and causes direct harmful effects to the public health and well-being of the Native American population,” she said.
In a joint statement about the resolution, Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter and Jackie Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, representing more than 80 Native American tribes, said they were “honored” by the “effort to help relegate this offensive and outdated slur to the dustbin of history.”
There has been mixed reaction to the 1991 resolution against Chief Wahoo from within the denomination. But UCC member Toni Buffalo, a Lakota from Eagle Butte, SD, defended the resolution, stating:
"I am not a Redskin. I am not a mascot. That is not an honor. Do not try to honor me that way."I originally wrote about the proposed resolution to boycott the Washington Redskins here.