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Civil rights group calls for elimination of NFL team's racist name






The logo for the Change the Mascot campaign

The Fritz Pollard Alliance is calling on the Washington NFL team to get rid of its racist mascot.

The group, which promotes diversity and equality in employment within the NFL, tried to get team representatives to meet with tribal and Indian leaders who oppose the mascot. A testy meeting last fall that included Gary Edwards, a Cherokee man who runs the Original Americans Foundation, proved to be the last straw.

“Every time we tried to speak, this guy Gary Edwards exploded,” attorney Cyrus Mehri told The Washington Post. “It was really hostile. And it was jarring, because it was so out of place.”

Former linebacker Harry Carson, the executive director of the group, said he brought up the issue one more time in December with the team's president. He said the team didn't appear concerned so the group decided to go public with their request on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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Civil rights group closely allied with the NFL calls for the Redskins to change its name (The Washington Post 1/19)

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