Minnesota protestors decry 'racist' Redskins mascot, call on Dan Snyder for change
Minnesota protestors took to the streets of Minneapolis Thursday to stand against the Washington Redskins mascot and nickname that Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said “dehumanizes our people.”
The rally that involved hundreds of protestors chanting “We are not your mascot” and took place ahead of Washington’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Flanagan is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and many of the protestors were Native Americans.
“Let me tell you, I wouldn’t talk to (team owner) Dan Snyder — I would make him talk to my 6½-year-old little girl, who would tell him how inappropriate and racist it is to have this Washington team name,” Flanagan said, according to the Minnesota Star-Tribune. “This racial slur that he profits off of is not right.”
The event took place outside the Vikings U.S. Bank Stadium and was dubbed The Not Your Mascot event. It was organized by tribal governments, the National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media and other Native American groups, according to the Star-Tribune.
No profits ‘off a racial slur’
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn also attended and called for pressure on Snyder.
“We need to get all the owners involved and put pressure on Dan Snyder,” she told the crowd, per the Star-Tribune. “We need to tell the NFL not to make these profits off of a racial slur.”
The mascot and nickname remain under constant fire for consisting of racist tropes and slurs.
Snyder has repeatedly resisted calls to change the team’s name and said in 2015 that he wouldn’t consider a change even if it stood in the way of his desire for a new football stadium.
“We will never change the name of the team,” Snyder told USA Today 2013. “As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it's all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season.”
More from Yahoo Sports:
