Bush says NFL’s Washington Redskins name not offensive

“I don’t find it offensive”, Bush said of the franchise’s name.

During a pre-recorded interview on Sirius XM’s show “The Arena“, Bush says he did not think the nickname is “offensive” to Native Americans.

The owner of the Redskins, Daniel Snyder, has stood firmly behind the team’s name, arguing it isn’t offensive to Native Americans. We had a similar kind of flap with FSU if you recall, the Seminoles. Bush stated that the native tribe defended the university’s use of their name, and that the controversy inevitably subsided.

“I don’t think it should change it”, Bush said. “It’s a football team”, Bush said. “I just – I’m missing something here, I guess”.

“I don’t think they should change it”, he said in an interview with ABC’s Rick Klein and ESPN’s Andy Katz.

Actually, the National Congress of American Indians, which bills itself as the “oldest, largest and most representative” Native American organization, has been trying to get the Redskins to change the name since 1968, arguing the name is associated with racism and genocide. In April, he contributed $100,000 to the Right to Rise Super PAC, a legally unaffiliated pro-Bush committee for which Bush himself actively raised money. That is disappointing, but sadly not surprising. “He clearly is missing something”.

That Native Americans “generally don’t find it offensive” isn’t true at all, but even if it were, it wouldn’t matter. A federal judge also ordered the cancellation of its federal trademark registrations, calling the name offensive to Native Americans.

Change the Mascot is a grassroots campaign that works to educate the public about the damaging effects on Native Americans arising from the continued use of the R-word. Bridget first came to Washington to be online editor at The Hill, where she wrote The World from The Hill column on foreign policy.