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Forbes
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Should The ‘Indians' And ‘Redskins' Names Return To Sports? As Stadium Vote Looms, Trump Believes So
"Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!" President Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. Is this statement by the President a contrarian view? Or is it a reflection of a changing public sentiment? CHICAGO - APRIL 30: Washington Redskins NFL football helmet is on display in Pioneer Court to ... More commemorate the NFL Draft 2015 in Chicago on April 30, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo By) As the NFL's Washington Commanders seek approval to develop the RFK stadium campus and build out a new football stadium, they are set to hold public hearings on August 1st to hear the feedback of the community. With 520 people already slated to speak on Day 1, Mayor Muriel Bowser is urging D.C. residents to speak up in support of the project, which also includes commercial and residential development. For residents who currently live in the neighborhood, there are two sides. While proponents lean into the positive and say D.C. will bring in just under $1 Billion a year in new business. Opponents are looking at the negative cost impact to the tax payers, and the need for even more housing and community investment. Beyond those two sides of the coin, President Trump has another thought on his mind. The team's name. More specifically, bringing back the former name of the team, The Washington Redskins, which the team held from 1933 to 2020, as part of the approval deal. Today, they are known as the Washington Commanders. 'I may put a restriction on them if they don't change the name back to the original 'Washington Redskins,'' President Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'I won't make a deal for them to build a stadium in Washington.' While the President technically doesn't have a say, due to the land being transferred over to D.C. prior to his inauguration, (Congress passed a bill giving the District of Columbia more control over the 190-acre riverfront plot.) he does have a hand in both the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and U.S. Commission on Fine Arts (CFA) — two federal advisory bodies that weigh in on all design matters in the city. They will have a big role in deciding what the stadium actually looks like. And with that, they have the potential to make the Commanders life very hard if the Presidents asks the appointees to stand tall. Trump's social post continued "The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone. Cleveland should do the same with the Cleveland Indians.' Washington Redskins logo displayed on a phone screen and photo of Donald Trump taken on June 25 in ... More The Hague displayed on a laptop screen in the background are seen in this illustration photo taken in Poland on July 21, 2025. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Those comments from the President were follow-ups to his previous Truth Social post, "The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past. Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. This type of language from the President, is the polar opposite of the social climate of 2020, when society was very vocal about pushing back on the Redkins and Indians names, deeming them 'culturally insensitive and inappropriate'. But this vote, and the Presidents post, has brought the topic of the Redskins and Indians back to light. Why were the Redskins and Indians Names Replaced? Only five years ago, the United States had a very different social perspective. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, a nationwide empathy-fueled movement took hold of America. Alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers and corporations en masse began reevaluating, and revisiting everything within their control to see if they could be fairer and more empathetic. For large-scale corporations, this moment presented an opportunity to review their moral compass as an organization. For two industries in particular, it meant examining the long-standing ethnic brand symbols on their products and evaluating them under a new lens. Pennant promotes the Cleveland Indians baseball team (from the American League), Cleveland, Ohio, ... More 1950s. It features an image of the team's mascot 'Chief Wahoo.' (Photo by) In sports, teams have had a long-standing practice of naming their mascots after Native Americans. Adorned on some of the country's most recognizable food brands are historically insensitive characters, known as 'food mascots'. For them, 2020 would become the year of the 'great rebrand'. In total, eleven college teams, two professional franchises and over a half a dozen food companies announced they were making changes to evolve or retire their culturally insensitive branding. Across the grocery isles…. AUNT PHOTOGRAPH. Across University Athletic departments from Midwestern State University to Quinnipiac University, mascots shifted. The Indians became the Mustangs, the Braves to Bobcats. All of this leads me to the NFL's Washington Redskins and MLB's Cleveland Indians - the two most visible sports rebrands of this period. The Washington Redskins, who were using the name and likeness of a Native American since 1933, became the Washington Football Team in 2020, before eventually landing on the name Washington Commanders soon thereafter. The ownership group, up until then, had stated the team would "never" change its name, and argued that Redskins name honored Native Americans. But due to the climate in 2020, corporate sponsors, from FedEx to others, began being vocal about not wanting to associate their brands with the culturally insensitive name. The Cleveland Indians changed their name to the Cleveland Guardians in November 2021. After decades of criticism regarding the team's previous name and mascot, Chief Wahoo, which depicted the face of Native Americans. In 2018, the Indians retired use of Chief Wahoo on their jerseys and hats. The new name, Guardians, was a reference to the "Guardians of Traffic" statues on the city's Hope Memorial Bridge. Should There Be A Push To Revert The Names Back? The name changes have sparked lively debate of fairness and sensitivity well beyond sports fans. Did it not go far enough? The Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Braves weren't pressured enough to change their names, even though they are both native American references. Or, did the pressure of the time push the agenda too far, too fast only causing people to regret it later? Cleveland fans, by and large would like the Indians names back. In a recent poll conducted in the city shows that fans overwhelmingly want the Indians name back, and the return of their mascot, Chief Wahoo. In Washington, last year's winning ways for the franchise pushed their QB Jayden Daniels to have the #1 selling jersey in all of sports and Commanders merchandise skyrocketed 463% from 2023 to 2024. Once the playoffs began, the spike reached over 4000%. This success changed the sentiment with fans, pushing those who like it or love it to 50% warming up to the name. LANDOVER, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 01: Jayden Daniels #5 of the Washington Commanders looks on prior to a ... More game against the Tennessee Titans at Northwest Stadium on December 01, 2024 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by) Among Native American communities, the reactions are too mixed. Groups such as Native American Guardians Assocaition, of fittingly abbreviated NAGA, have spoken out, the 'Redskins / Redmen is a Native American iconic name and is revered by the vast majority of Native Americans and general public alike. Redskins / Redmen represents honor, respect and pride for Native American culture. Redskins / Redmen is and has been a self-identifying term for Natives since the early 1800s.' according to thier website. While on the other side, groups such as 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance which became a key organizer of the Indians name change and a leader in the ongoing protests of Native American mascots, had been long active in the continuous support of Indigenous Rights. Moving forward, it's clear that consensus is still hard to find - and no one decision will make all happy. The court of public opinion holds power in this ongoing battle of what is right and what is not - it just depends on how society defines those terms at the time.
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Clarence Page: Donald Trump's naming game is a pitch to his restive base
As if he didn't have enough on his mind in late summer, President Donald Trump has called on two professional sports teams to revert to their former names — which unfortunately sound to many ears like racial slurs. Is he just looking for trouble? Or is he whipping up controversy to direct attention away from other trouble that he is in? Last Sunday on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, Trump called on the NFL's Washington Commanders and MLB's Cleveland Guardians to go back to the team names they used before they rebranded in response to complaints about the use of Native American names and imagery. Referring to the Washington team, Trump posted, 'I may put a restriction on them that if they don't change the name back to the original 'Washington Redskins,' and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, 'Washington Commanders,' I won't make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington.' Moreover, he wrote, 'Cleveland should do the same with the Cleveland Indians.' Ah, the old one-two punch of bigotry and extortion. For fun Trump added, 'MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!' Right. Somehow, I don't expect Indigenous Americans to be very impressed by his demand. Trump also has willingly used the power of the presidency to attack the bureaucracy, the universities, the media, the arts — all of them full of 'elitists' who have sought to impose their views on speech and thought about race. Trump has the power, in word and deed, to hurt these people and institutions, and he glories in doing so. That is the message to MAGA of these posts. But why now? Trump is trying to move the news cycle past the mysteries surrounding the late Jeffrey Epstein. More news has emerged tying him to the late financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide while in prison nearly six years ago. The Epstein story took an unexpected turn earlier this month when the Justice Department announced that it would not release the so-called Epstein files, despite the fact that Trump surrogates had spent months, and in some cases years, promising to do so. Then, the week before last, The Wall Street Journal reported that a risque birthday letter sent to Epstein in 2003 bore Trump's sexually suggestive signature. Trump went ballistic, suing the Journal, its owners and the reporters for $10 billion, contending that 'no authentic letter or drawing exists.' However, he sounded a bit more muted after the Journal's subsequent report that Trump was briefed by his attorney general, Pam Bondi, in May that his name appears multiple times in FBI documents related to the Epstein case. The Epstein case is a grave vulnerability for Trump. A nontrivial segment of the MAGA movement is rebelling at his attempts to quash publication of the 'files.' Trump in turn is accusing these people of being 'duped' by Democrats. He went so far as to say that he doesn't want the votes of those who show such little faith, and he called those who continue to demand the release of the files 'weaklings.' Meanwhile, the White House has been digging deep into its repertoire of treason accusations against former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, complete with a fresh promise to prosecute all involved in the decade-old investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. That's our president! Always ready, when all else fails, to play the old hits such as the familiar blame-the-media ploy. But blaming the messenger doesn't seem to be playing as well as usual. A CBS/YouGov poll published last Sunday found that 9 in 10 respondents think the government should release all of its information on Epstein. Republicans were split almost evenly on approval of the Trump administration's handling of the controversy, though self-identified MAGA Republicans were more likely to say they were satisfied. As for his overall performance, an overwhelming 89% of Republicans approved of the job he's doing as president, despite his approval slipping to just 42% of all respondents in the survey. That could be because the Epstein case isn't the most important issue respondents considered in evaluating the job he's doing. Top of the list for saying an issue mattered 'a lot' in their evaluation was immigration and deportation policies (61%), followed closely by inflation and prices and the tax-and-spending bill that recently passed Congress (both at 56%). About 36% said the Epstein case mattered 'a lot' in their assessment of Trump. Yet the case isn't going away any time soon. In order to avoid a procedural vote making information about the Epstein case public, House Speaker Mike Johnson sent House members home early for a monthlong break from Washington. The vote would have forced Republicans to pick a side. Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche, who last year acted as Trump's criminal attorney, has been dispatched twice to speak with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's accomplice who is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking. Is Blanche visiting Maxwell as a high-ranking government official sworn to protect the people of the United States or as Trump's personal fixer? It's hard to know if there's a distinction in Trump's mind. As one who has grown quite weary of the epidemic of conspiracy theories that boiled up in the wake of Obama's presidential campaign, I am amused to see the masters of MAGA get a taste of their own paranoid theories. But I am also deeply worried about what they will permit themselves to do to get out of the Epstein pickle.
India Today
6 days ago
- India Today
US tries to make an example out of Indian repeat offender, to deport him
Break the rules, face the consequences. That's the message US immigration authorities are sending to repeat offenders from India. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has made it clear that those who repeatedly violate US laws risk arrest and the latest case, a 25-year-old Indian man has been arrested in a joint operation carried out by multiple US authorities, citing his extensive criminal history and repeated evasion of Singh, who is now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), faces deportation, according to the ICE. The joint operation was conducted by ICE, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Seattle, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle, and the US Border Patrol's Blaine in a statement, said that he had been arrested several times before."Manjot Singh, 25, is a citizen of India, and was arrested at least 6 times by local police. Singh's criminal history includes robbery, theft, criminal impersonation, and DUI (Driving Under the Influence). He'll stay in ICE custody pending removal proceedings," ICE said in a post on X on Wednesday (US time).Chief Patrol Agent, US Border Patrol, Blaine Sector Washington, Rosario Pete Vasquez, in a social media post said that Singh was living in the US "illegally".Singh was lodged in the Whatcom County Jail before being in ICE INDIANS ARRESTED LAST MONTHLately, several Indian nationals have been arrested in the US for a slew of this month, a 42-year-old Indian national was arrested in the State of Washington on charges of possession of child pornography, ICE informed on July 11."A citizen of India, Gurjeet Singh Malhi, 42, was arrested during a joint federal law enforcement action in WA. Malhi has been charged by local authorities with possession of CSAM, child sexual assault material, commonly known as child porn," ICE said in a arrest triggered a political uproar in India, with both the BJP and the Congress questioning the AAP government in Punjab after purported photos surfaced allegedly showing the offender with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's family members and other state an 18-minute video of an Indian woman getting detained in the US went viral after she was allegedly caught trying to steal goods worth over $1,300 from a store after spending seven hours incident reportedly occurred in May. Even as the video of the incident went viral, the US Embassy in India released a statement warning visa holders that engaging in crimes like assault, theft, or burglary in the host country could result in visa cancellation and potentially make them ineligible for future to a media query on the shoplifting incident, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urged all citizens travelling abroad to respect local laws and uphold the country's image, while confirming that over 1,500 Indians have been deported from the US this year.- Ends
India Today
22-07-2025
- India Today
India climbs 8 spots in 2025 Henley Passport Index, now ranks 77th
In a big win for Indian travellers, the Indian passport has jumped eight spots to secure the 77th position in the latest Henley Passport Index 2025. This means Indian citizens can now access 59 countries without needing a a decent jump from last year, when India was ranked 85th. The ranking is based on how many destinations a country's passport holder can enter without a prior Henley Passport Index, which is updated quarterly, uses data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to rank 199 passports around the COUNTRIES CAN INDIANS VISIT VISA-FREE NOW? With the 2025 update, Indian passport holders can now travel visa-free or with visa-on-arrival access to 59 destinations. These include some tourist favourites, like Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Kenya, and countries like the United States, Schengen States, the United Kingdom, and Australia still require Indians to apply for visas before DO OTHER MAJOR COUNTRIES STAND IN 2025?The 2025 index places France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain at the top, all tied at Rank 1, with visa-free access to 194 the UK is at Rank 4, and the US shares the 6th position with Canada and others. At the other end of the list is Afghanistan, ranked 104th, with visa-free access to just 28 HAS INDIA'S PASSPORT RANKING IMPROVED?While Henley & Partners hasn't specifically listed reasons for India's improved score, the change is likely due to growing diplomatic engagements and bilateral agreements that help improve travel access for Indian a welcome boost for students, tourists, and business travellers looking for easier movement across IS THE HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX?The Henley Passport Index is considered one of the most respected global rankings of travel freedom. It ranks passports according to the number of destinations their holders can enter without a important to note that visa-free access doesn't necessarily mean complete entry without documentation. Sometimes, travellers still need electronic travel authorisation or must get a visa upon arrival.- Ends
21-07-2025
- Politics
Trump demands Washington Commanders reverse name change, threatens he will not facilitate deal for new stadium
President Donald Trump has threatened the Washington Commanders football team, stating he will not facilitate a deal for the team's new stadium to be built in Washington, D.C., if it does not revert to its former name. "My statement on the Washington Reskins has totally blown up, but only in a ver positive way. I may put a restriction on them that if they don't change the name back to the original 'Washington Redskins,' and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, 'Washington Commanders,' I won't make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington," Trump wrote on his social media platform on Sunday. In another post on Sunday, Trump called on the Commanders to "immediately" change their name. "Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago," Trump wrote on his social media platform. ABC News has reached out to the Commanders for comment on Trump's demands. Trump also said that the Cleveland Guardians baseball team should switch back to its old name, too, and called out Ohio Senate candidate Matt Dolan, who owns the team, claiming that he lost several elections because of the name change. "The Owner of the Cleveland Baseball Team, Matt Dolan, who is very political, has lost three Elections in a row because of that ridiculous name change. What he doesn't understand is that if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an Election. Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!," Trump wrote on Sunday. The Cleveland Guardians' president of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, said in a statement on Sunday that there have not been any plans to change the team's name, according to The Associated Press. "We understand there are different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago, but obviously it's a decision we made. We've got the opportunity to build a brand as the Guardians over the last four years and are excited about the future that's in front of us," Antonetti said. The Guardians didn't have any additional comment when asked by ABC News. With the Commanders, Josh Harris, the managing partner for the team, said earlier this year that the team would not be changing its name, according to The Associated Press. The Washington Commanders dropped its former name in July 2020 after years of complaints over its racist connotations toward Native Americans. The team adopted the generic "Washington Football Team" two weeks later, though it was only supposed to be in place for the 2020-21 season. Then in 2022, the team revealed it's new name would be the Washington Commanders. A 2020 study from the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley found that at least half of more than 1,000 Native Americans surveyed were offended by Commanders' previous team name, according to UC Berkeley's website. The practice of using Native American mascots is controversial and many tribal leaders say it is dehumanizing and perpetuates stereotypes. In 2024, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill with unanimous consent that would allow the federal government to lease more than 170 acres of land at the site where the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium is currently located, which would allow for the possibility of a new stadium to be built. The team currently plays at the Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. The bill transfers the jurisdiction of the stadium site from the federal government to local D.C. authorities. "We are extremely grateful that our elected officials have come together on a bipartisan basis to give Washington, D.C. the opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK stadium site. This bill will create an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans," Harris said in a statement on Dec. 21, 2024.
