#RedskinsPride

Overview

#RedskinsPride is a hashtag launched by the Washington Redskins professional American football team urging followers to tweet their support for the team’s controversial name to Nevada Democratic Senator Harry Reid on Twitter. The hashtag was subsequently hijacked by critics who found the ethnic slur for Native Americans offensive in May 2014.

Background

Washington Redskins Naming Controversy

In 1933, the Boston Braves football team name was change to the Redskins by co-owner George Preston Marshall. According to the Boston Herald, the name was changed to avoid confusion with the Braves baseball team and to recognize coach William Henry “Lone Star” Dietz’ claimed Native American ancestry. The origin of the slang term “redskin” has been claimed by some as a reference to Native American skin tone by settlers, while others argue it was used in reference to body paint worn by certain tribes.

In 1988, the first national protest against the name were held following the Redskins’ Super Bowl XXII victory. In 1992, Native American in Minnesota protested the team’s name at Super Bowl XXVI. Interest in changing the Redskins name was renewed in 2013, with Native American protests held in Texas, Colorado and Minnesota. On the March 26th, 2014, The Colbert Report featured a segment titled “The Sport Report” in which Stephen Colbert mocked Redskins owner Daniel Snyder for maintaining his team’s offensive name. After the @ColbertReport Twitter feed posted a quote of Colbert lampooning Snyder’s contradictory stance, Twitter user Suey Park launched the #CancelColbert hashtag in retaliation.

Harry Reid vs. Washington Redskins

On April 30th, 2014, Nevada Democratic Senator Harry Reid condemned the then-owner of Los Angeles Clippers Don Sterling’s racist remarks and went a step further to criticize the NFL and the Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder for refusing to change the team’s name from the controversial ethnic slur for Native Americans. On May 22nd, Reid released a letter signed by fifty Democratic senators calling for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to take action against the Redskins.^[1]

#RedskinsPride

On May 29th, the Washington Redskins Twitter feed posted a request for Twitter users to tell Reid what “the team means to you.” In the first 24 hours, the tweet gained over 550 retweets and 300 favorites.

Tweet SenatorReid</a> to show your <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23RedskinsPride&src=hash">#RedskinsPride</a> and tell him what the team means to you.</p>— Washington Redskins (Redskins) May 29, 2014

Notable Developments

Support

The hashtag was initially used by fans showing support for keeping the Redskins name, with many criticizing Reid and Democrats for choosing to target the professional football team.

#RedskinsPride SenatorReid</a> Does the Senate not have anything else to worry about ?</p>— Andrew Moore (admoore711) May 29, 2014

Nothing demonstrates small minds of faux #redskins outrage than pseudo leftists who weren't 'offended' by name for 50 yrs. #redskinspride
— drhoagie (D) (@drhoagie) May 30, 2014

Backlash

Several minutes after the Redskins tweeted the hashtag, BuzzFeed politics reporter Andrew Kaczynski retweeted the post adding “Don’t do this to yourselves.”

Don’t do this to yourselves. RT Redskins</a>: Tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorReid">SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you.
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) May 29, 2014

Minutes later, blogger Jeb Lund replied to the Redskins with a photograph of the Wounded Knee Massacre and comedian Rob Delaney posted a tweet noting that Hitler studied American Indian reservations. In the first 24 hours, the tweets received more than 400 and 600 retweets respectively.

OK. RT Redskins</a>: Tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorReid">SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you. pic.twitter.com/L9DBy0KSVA
— Jeb Lund (@Mobute) May 29, 2014

.Redskins</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorReid">SenatorReid Hitler studied American Indian reservations while designing German concentration camps. #RedskinsPride!
— rob delaney (@robdelaney) May 29, 2014

On May 30th, the sports marketing blog Emory Sports Marketing Analytics^[2] posted a chart tracking the hourly Twitter mentions of the hashtag along with the hourly sentiment changes, noting that negative tweets eventually surpassed positive tweets 4:1. According to the Twitter analytics site Topsy,^[3] the hashtag was tweeted over 21,000 times within the first 24 hours.

News Media Coverage

In the comings days, many news sites published articles about the hashtag backlash referring to it as a “social media disaster,” including Today,^[4] The Washington Post,^[5] BuzzFeed,^[6] The Daily Dot,^[7] Salon,^[8] UpRoxx^[9] and CBS News.^[10]

Notable Examples

Tonight's Redskins</a> game is brought to you by Nike, Cheerios, and the slaughter of millions of Native people. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23RedskinsPride&src=hash">#RedskinsPride</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23changethename&src=hash">#changethename</a></p>— Reasonable White Man (BlackGirlDanger) May 29, 2014

#RacialSlurPride RT Redskins</a>: Tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorReid">SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you.
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) May 29, 2014

If you like, beer, partying, football, and the extermination of a people, you'll love The @Redskins! #RedskinsPride #changethename
— Jamie Kilstein (@jamiekilstein) May 29, 2014