Nearly half of the respondents to a national poll conducted by Morning Consult are okay with the NFL team name The Washington Redskins. The soccer team, which has been accused for years of racism against Native Americans despite polls finding that Native American majorities support the name, has been slated for changes to appease a small group of leftist agitators in line.
However, it turns out that many more Americans believe the name should remain than those who prefer a more culturally sensitive name. According to the survey, 49 percent of respondents believe the Redskins should keep their nickname, with only 29 percent in favor of the next change and 22 percent unsure.
When broken down by generation, the nickname is less popular with Generation Z than with any other. Forty-five percent of Generation Z are in favor of changing the name, and only 23 percent support keeping the nickname. Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers see that a higher percentage of their respective populations support keeping the name.
The desire to change falls to 31 percent for millennials, with 47 percent in favor of the name. Generation X is declining again, with only 27 percent wanting to get rid of the team name, compared to 55 percent who support it. Only 24 percent of Boomers believe the name should be removed, and 56 percent believe it should remain.
When you look at how the name’s popularity changes across racial lines, it’s clear that whites predominantly support the name, blacks believe it should be changed, albeit by less than half, and Hispanics are torn.
57% of white respondents believe the team should keep the nickname, while only 24% argue in favor of its removal. In contrast, 46 percent of black respondents believe the team name should change, and only 23 percent remain. Hispanic respondents are split in half, with 38 percent supporting both keeping and changing the nickname.
In addition to asking whether the team’s nickname should be changed, the survey explored how many respondents found the name offensive compared to other team pets attacked for spreading ethnic or racial stereotypes.
The Redskins ranked the second most offensive name, with 30 percent of respondents considering the name and logo offensive. The only team that scored higher was the Cleveland Indians and their mascot, Chief Wahoo, who was considered offensive by 33 percent of those surveyed.
The other potentially controversial pets included: Chicago Blackhawks (25 percent), Florida State Seminoles (24 percent), Atlanta Braves (17 percent), Kansas City Chiefs (16 percent), Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16 percent) and the Edmonton Eskimos (16 percent).
This survey did not reveal data for any, if any, Native American respondents. It would be interesting to see what their opinion on the name and its possible change would be, since that is the group that supposedly protects the change. Historically, Native Americans have widely supported the team’s name.
A 2016 poll by the Washington Post on Native Americans showed that 90 percent of respondents were not bothered by the name, and 78 percent considered the debate unimportant. Many of the respondents went one step further and stated that they like the name of the team and find it favorable to Native Americans. The Washington Post’s results also fit a 2004 survey of Native Americans conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg National Election Poll, which also saw 90 percent of respondents endorsing the name.
Paulina Enck is an intern at the Federalist and a current student at Georgetown University at the School of Foreign Service. Follow her on Twitter at @itspaulinaenck
