The Redskins name-change movement continues to inch forward, one entity at a time.
Reuters.com is reporting that the Washington Post editorial board has joined the growing list of organizations that no longer will use the Washington NFL team's nickname.
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The Post said the term "Redskins" denigrates Native Americans, according to Reuters.com.
"While we wait for the NFL to catch up with public opinion and common decency we have decided not to use the slur ourselves except when it is essential for clarity or effect," the board said in a statement.
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The decision, however, applies only to the newspaper's opinion pages, Reuters.com added, and is separate from the Post's news-gathering side. There, "Redskins" still will be used, said Marty Baron, the paper's executive editor.
"Standard operating policy in the newsroom has been to use the names that established institutions choose for themselves," Baron said. "That remains our policy, as we continue to vigorously cover controversy over the team's name and avoid any advocacy role on this subject."
The news comes on the heels of the revelation that recently retired NFL referee Mike Carey did not work a Washington Redskins game for eight years because he did not want to refer to the team's moniker.
"The league respectfully honored my request not to officiate Washington," Carey told the Washington Post. "It happened sometime after I refereed their playoff game in 2006, I think."
The NFL's team issued a statement Friday, indicating that the move by no means caught its management and staff off guard.
"The editorial board has been opposed to the Washington Redskins name for more than 30 years," the Redskins said in a statement. "So today's announcement is no surprise.
"We just wish they would have had taken us up on our offer to visit several reservations to see how much native Americans embrace and value the name and use it as their own logo and mascots across this country."
What do you think needs to happen before the Redskins consider changing their name? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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