Arlington County Board Requests Redskins Name Change

The Arlington County Board has adopted a resolution calling on the owners of the Washington Redskins football team to change a name that the Board said is “objectionable to many Americans, Virginians and Arlingtonians,” saying that the team could have a brand new start as it is welcomed into the Commonwealth.

The resolution comes at a time when there is talk that the football team owner is possibly seeking a new spot to build a new stadium. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is reportedly lobbying hard for it to be located in Virginia. Team owner Dan Snyder has said he won’t change the name of the team.

Three Board Members — Chair Mary Hynes, Vice Chairman Walter Tejada and Board Member Jay Fisette — voted in favor of the resolution. Board Members John Vihstadt and Libby Garvey abstained, saying they personally agreed that the team should change its name, but did not agree that the Board should take a position on the issue.

“This is a personal issue for me, and many, many people,” Tejada said in introducing the resolution. Tejada, who was born in El Salvador, noted that he is descended from the Mayans. Arlington has often “spoken out” on issues “before it became popular, and it is time for us to do it again,” he noted.

The resolution notes that the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments called for the team to change its name in 2002, and that many prominent individuals, organizations and media outlets, including President Barack Obama, the Anti-Defamation League, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and others, have since urged the team to change its name.

If the team moves to Virginia, as recent news reports have suggested it may, “such a move would be met with near-universal acclaim throughout Virginia, uniting a Commonwealth and its residents of all incomes and races, north and south, urban and rural, young and old, conservative and progressive,” if the team arrives with a new name, the resolution notes.

To view the resolution, visit the County website.