The push to ban the Washington Redskins' nickname and logo from being displayed or broadcast inside the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome will go to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority first thing Friday.
Fight to ban NFL 'Redskins' name and logo goes to stadium board
Fight to ban 'Redskins' name and logo goes to stadium board Friday
October 25, 2013 at 1:25AM
Several representatives of the Minneapolis-based American Indian Movement plan to attend the authority's 9 a.m. meeting at the Dome to ask the board overseeing construction of the new Vikings stadium to refrain from printing or broadcasting the NFL Redskins' nickname or logo when the team visits Minneapolis for a Nov. 7 game with the Vikings.
Activist and child psychologist Alan Yelsey said Thursday that he and several others lobbying for the ban met for about an hour Thursday with authority officials to express their concerns that the nickname is derogatory and destructive and reinforces hurtful stereotypes.
He said speakers Friday plan to cite 14 laws that the authority would be breaking "if they allow the word 'Redskin' to be broadcast or presented in that stadium.'' He also said that the authority's affirmative action plan prohibits it from creating an environment "that is at all harassing or discriminatory."
The group, which is pushing the authority to vote on the issue, has said it might file a class-action lawsuit if the board fails to honor their request.
Earlier Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement encouraging the authority, the Vikings and the media "to do the right thing" and not refer to the Washington football team by its "offensive" nickname.
"The name, logo and mascot are racist imagery that does not honor anyone, but instead perpetuate stereotypes that are particularly hurtful and offensive," said Charles Samuelson, executive director of the ACLU-Minnesota.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
