Could Redskins name kill NFL’s tax-exempt status?

By sarahtr

Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, said Tuesday she will introduce a bill to eliminate the NFL’s tax-exempt status because the league has not taken action over the Washington Redskins name.

The announcement by Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington state was one of several initiatives presented Tuesday during a Capitol Hill news conference aimed at increasing pressure on Redskins owner Dan Snyder.

“The NFL needs to join the rest of Americans in the 21st century,” she said, according to the Washington Post. “It is about right and wrong.”

The “Change the Mascot” campaign also said it was sending a letter to the other 31 NFL team owners asking them to use their “position of authority” to end the league’s “promotion of a dictionary-defined racial slur.”

From the Washington Post: Clearly, Washington team owner Dan Snyder’s continued promotion of this racial slur represents such conduct, reads the letter, signed by Ray Halbritter, the representative of the Oneida Indian Nation, and Brian Cladoosby, the president of NCAI. Put simply, Mr. Snyder is jeopardizing the welfare of the league by promoting an epithet against people of color.

Some speakers linked the issue to the NFL’s handling of recent incidents involving domestic violence and child abuse. Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter said they were symptomatic of the league’s “moral arrogance.”

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