Washington Post editorials will no longer use 'Redskins'

The Washington Post editorial board announced Friday that it will no longer use the word "Redskins" in reference to Washington's NFL team.

The Washington Post editorial board announced Friday that it will no longer use "Redskins" in reference to Washington, D.C.'s NFL team.

In explaining its decision, the Post's board wrote that it was impressed by the "quiet dignity" of longtime NFL referee Mike Carey, who recently retired after 19 seasons. Carey said this week that he purposely began avoiding working Washington games in 2006 due to his opposition to the nickname.

The debate surrounding the "Redskins" name has grown increasingly stronger over the past year as more Native American groups, media members and politicians have begun speaking out against what they see as inappropriate use of a racist, offensive term.

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Team officials, especially owner Dan Snyder, have maintained that the name is not offensive, that it is rooted in tradition and history and that many Native Americans approve of its use. Snyder has said he will never change the name.

More from the Post:

We don’t believe that fans who are attached to the name have racist feeling or intent, any more than does Mr. Snyder. But the fact remains: The word is insulting. You would not dream of calling anyone a “redskin” to his or her face. You wouldn’t let your son or daughter use it about a person, even within the privacy of your home. As Post columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote on the opposite page last year, “I wouldn’t want to use a word that defines a people — living or dead, offended or not — in a most demeaning way.”

The new stance does not apply to the newspaper's other sections.

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