This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Local Columnist Calls for Name Changes to Washington Redskins, Negro Mountains

Washington Post writer calls names "offensive."

Has the PC-ification of modern society gone too far, or not far enough?

In 2009, the Supreme Court decided to let stand a federal appeals court decision that native Americans had "waited too long to bring their challenge to the Redskins trademark and thus forfeited any right to sue," as reported in the Christian Science Monitor.

Now, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy has linked the football team's name to the Negro Mountains in Western Maryland/Pennsylvania and is calling for Native American leaders to join forces with African American leaders to take a stand against names "rooted in systemic efforts to dehumanize."

Find out what's happening in Greenbeltwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Milloy points to the controversy over the mountain range's name as early as 2011, and current efforts by Maryland state Sen. Lisa A. Gladden (D-Dist. 41) of Baltimore and Pennsylvania state Rep. Rosita C. Youngblood (D-Philadelphia) to change the name.

The columnist details some other name changes that included the word "negro" and suggests the battle to change "Redskins" will be tougher. But he said he believes that "following the same principle of decency will no doubt lead to victory in that fight, too."

Find out what's happening in Greenbeltwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The full text of Milloy's column can be found on The Post's website.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Greenbelt