Opinion: 'Redskins' name reminds us of America's ugly past

When I heard Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder recently I couldn't stop thinking of Alabama’s segregationist Governor George Wallace.

Synder’s recent use of the N- word- “never”- was so offensive, for a moment I felt myself hurled into that infamous day in 1963 when Wallace stood on the doorsteps at the University of Alabama and thunderously vowed: “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever.”

In the backdrop of an upcoming case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving the Redskins trademark, which some Native Americans have described in the complaint as offensive, Synder was asked about changing the name of the team. ‘We'll never change the name,’ Snyder told USA Today defiantly. "It's that simple. NEVER -- you can use caps.”

To me. Snyder’s “never” is like Wallace’s “forever”: “Never” is a terminal sounding word, void of hope, any appeal to reason, disgusting, de-humanizing, a situation that will not change.