
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 4, 1993                   TAG: 9307040120
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

REDSKINS' NAME UNDER ATTACK FROM SENATOR

The Washington Redskins' name is under attack again - this time by the U.S. Senate's only American Indian, who is trying to block congressional approval for a new team stadium unless its name is changed.

Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, D-Colo., has introduced a bill to prevent the federal land transfer that is needed to build a stadium next to RFK Stadium unless Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke drops the name, which has been a target of protests from Indian leaders.

"Simply put," said Campbell, who was elected in the fall, "the name `Redskins' is offensive to Indian people. Whether it is considered offensive by non-Indians is not the issue. It is offensive to us."

If Campbell's bill gains support in the Senate, it would not be the first time Congress has pressured the Redskins on issues of race. In 1961, when the team was the last in professional football without black players, Congress threatened to evict the Redskins from what was then called D.C. Stadium unless the team owner at the time, George Preston Marshall, integrated the squad. He did.

On Friday, D.C. Council member Bill Lightfoot joined Campbell's fight by reintroducing a resolution that also demands Cooke find a new name for the team, which has been known as the Redskins since the 1930s.

Lightfoot first brought his measure to the council in 1992. Although it won preliminary support from a majority of city lawmakers, the resolution died in committee, largely because it did not have the support of then-Council Chairman John A. Wilson, a friend of Cooke who died in May.

"This is still the right thing to do," Lightfoot said. "The name is racially insensitive."

Cooke declined to comment on Campbell's attempts to force him to change the team name. In other interviews, however, he has been adamant in saying that he will not change the name because "there's nothing in the world" wrong with it. Redskins officials have said the name should be seen as a tribute to the courage and strength of American Indians.

Indian leaders have been campaigning for several years to change the names of sports teams they consider offensive. Last year, they persuaded The Oregonian newspaper in Portland not to print any team names they deemed offensive. Several college and high school athletic teams across the country also have changed their nicknames.

Keywords:
FOOTBALL

by CNB