Rumor’s out that the owners of the Washington Commanders are feeling the heat to reverse the 2020 decision by former owner Daniel Snyder to drop the team’s beloved Redskins name.

The reason? President Donald Trump’s recent threats regarding the team’s $3.7 billion plan to return the team’s stadium to the District of Columbia from its decades-long sojourn in Maryland. “I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’” Trump posted, “I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington.”

Certainly, this lifelong Redskins fan wouldn’t mind Trump fighting on behalf of the fanbase of a storied franchise who still feels betrayed by a decision that had more to do with woke mob outrage in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death than with the purported social justice reasons given for why the team needed to alter its name and mascot.

“Redskins is racist,” asserted pundits across left-wing corporate media, a claim that finally gained traction when American corporations kowtowed to every woke activist in 2020 by claiming they would take whatever steps would appease the mob and its accusatory chants of “systemic racism.” Yet five years on, one might ask, what has the name change actually accomplished?

American Indians Are No Better Off Now 

For decades prior to the 2020 decision to abandon the Redskins’ name, corporate media parroted claims from the academy that mascots referring to American Indians had detrimental effects on indigenous people. The American Psychological Association, an institution regularly cited by The Washington Post, claimed that the Redskins harmed the mental health of young American Indians and fostered a hostile learning environment for them. “The discontinued use of American Indian mascots is a gesture to show that this kind of racism toward and the disrespect of, all people in our country and in the larger global context, will not be tolerated,” claimed a Ph.D. at the American Psychological Association.

Well, has removing the Redskins name had any demonstrable effect on outcomes for American Indians? A 2023 review of the literature published in an academic psychological journal certainly made no mention of it, though it noted, “American Indians and Alaska Natives suffer from disproportionately high rates of chronic mental and physical health conditions.” Mental health organizations continue to observe that when compared to the total United States population, “nearly twice as many Native/Indigenous people in America live in poverty.” A 2024 study noted the continued problem of comparatively high levels of substance abuse and suicide among American Indian populations. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no research indicating a shift in mental health, substance abuse, or suicide rates among indigenous people.

Nor, frankly, will there ever be such research. For who in their right mind could possibly believe that a demographic that has the highest poverty rates, whose leading cause of death for young males is suicide, and whose women are more than twice as likely to be raped as the national average would have their many problems assuaged by simply changing a sports team’s name? The plight of American Indian communities in this country is very real and very tragic. To think that rebranding Washington’s football team the “Commanders” would affect any of this is, in its superficiality, deeply insulting to the plight of American Indians across our nation. 

Removing American Indians Further to the Periphery

Let’s be frank. The terrible ongoing suffering of American Indians in this country is, for many Americans, an afterthought. American Indians comprise about 1 percent of this country’s population. A fraction of them live on reservations. Most Americans rarely encounter American Indians in their daily lives, at least in the sense of individuals who have a significant percentage of indigenous ancestry and have a substantive connection to that heritage. 

Because of this, abandoning the “Washington Redskins” or “Cleveland Indians” actually has the opposite effect of what woke activists demand. Out of sight, out of mind. Before the name changes, owners of professional sports teams had an opportunity to actually bring more regular public attention to American Indian communities and their needs. Instead, they opted for performative gestures — not surprising, given that wokeism is little more than performative activism defined by bumper stickers, lawn signs, and social media posts.

Restore the Name, Elevate Public Awareness of American Indians

In his recent comments, President Trump said the Commanders would be “much more valuable” if they restored their old name. He couldn’t be more accurate. And though I presume our commander-in-chief was speaking about the franchise’s fiscal fortunes, it’s also true when it comes to the welfare of indigenous people. For what better way to increase public awareness of American Indians than to make them a central component of the identity of a professional sports team like the Washington Redskins or Cleveland Indians?

I recently attended the Washington Commanders’ summer training camp. Practically everyone was decked out in Washington football apparel, and about half of them had some manner of Redskins gear: hats, T-shirts, tote bags, socks, shoes, you name it. It’s obvious, despite ridiculously politicized (and probably inaccurate) claims by The Washington Post, that fans still adore and prefer the old name and mascot. Only a fool would fail to realize that with such a fanbase, this is a golden opportunity for American Indians.

Imagine advertising a QR code at games, giving attendees a chance to donate to a charitable organization that actually helps meet the needs of American Indians. Imagine welcoming American Indian kids from across the nation to be celebrated on the field for academic or sports achievements. I have little doubt thousands of fans would stand and cheer and pull out their wallets to express their well-wishes and solidarity for American Indians across our country.

The owners of the Washington Commanders have a real opportunity here to alleviate the suffering of American Indians across our nation. I hope and pray they take it. Perhaps because of President Trump, they’ll have to.