Source: Xinhua International Headline
President of the United States, Trump, posted on social media on the 20th, demanding that two American professional sports clubs change their names, restoring team names considered to have racial discrimination connotations.
Trump posted on his own created social media platform "Truth Social", urging the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL) to "immediately" change their current name, which is deemed "absurd", back to the Washington Redskins, and asking the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB) to revert their name to the Cleveland Indians.
The original names of these two teams are considered to have racial discriminatory connotations towards the indigenous Native Americans. Cambridge Dictionary states in its definition that "Redskins" is a highly offensive term for Native Americans.
Native American groups and organizations in the United States have long called on the American sports industry to stop associating team names and logos with Native Americans. The National Congress of American Indians has stated that such practices perpetuate negative stereotypes of Native Americans and contribute to the neglect of Native American identities.
An article in Smithsonian Magazine once wrote that the use of names and images associated with Native Americans became widespread in the United States in the early 20th century. Along with this phenomenon was the suppression of Native American legal rights by the U.S. government, the forced enrollment of Native American children in English-speaking boarding schools, and the imposition of "Americanization".
In May 2020, George Floyd, an African-American man, was "kneeld to death" by a white police officer, reigniting the anti-racism wave in the United States. Calls to stop using Native American names and images surged. In this context, the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians announced name changes, with the former adopting its current name in early 2022 and the latter changing its name after the 2021 season.
On the 20th, Trump said on social media that there is a "strong call" within the United States for the Washington Commanders and the Cleveland Guardians to revert to their original names. According to Trump's statement, the Native American community "wants it this way," and "the times have changed from three or four years ago."
In his post, Trump also threatened that if the Washington Commanders do not revert to their original name, he will prevent the team from building a new stadium in the capital, Washington. The Washington Commanders currently play at a stadium in Maryland, adjacent to Washington. The team previously played mainly at the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Earlier this year, the Washington Commanders and the Washington D.C. government announced that they would build a new stadium on the original site of the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.
According to Associated Press, it is currently unclear whether Trump can block the Washington Commanders' stadium relocation plan. The managers of the Cleveland Guardians hinted on the 20th that they have no intention of changing the name.
Reporter: Hui Xiaoshuang
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7529517442121466402/
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