(AllHipHop News) Spike Lee has called for America’s National Football League (NFL) chiefs to force the Washington Redskins to change its name.
The Washington D.C. team’s name has long been a source of controversy due to its offensiveness to Native Americans, and team owner Daniel Snyder has received renewed pushback amid the protests against racial injustice that have swept the U.S.
In an interview with SiriusXM’s The Joe Madison Show, Lee suggested that if NASCAR bosses could ban Confederate symbols, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should force a name change in the name of removing racist symbols from the sport.
“He (Goodell) should approach (Snyder) and say if the Confederate stars and bars, good ole boys, they could do that. You gotta do something,” the “Da 5 Bloods” filmmaker says.
Comparing the name to other potentially offensive team names, he adds: “Can you imagine an NFL team called – now, people don’t get mad at me, I’m just making a point – the Chicago Ch##ks, The Washington Wasps, The Nevada N##gers?”
Lee has previously criticized Goodell and his league over the treatment of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and others who have protested against police brutality by “taking the knee” during the U.S. national anthem.
Kaepernick has not been picked up by any team since he left the San Francisco 49ers, the team he once led to a Super Bowl game, following the 2016 season, when he began his protests.
With his “take a knee” gesture now a symbol of protest across the world, Goodell has since apologized for failing to back the star and encouraged teams to sign Kaepernick.
Actor and comic D.L. Hughley also recently condemned the Redskins for their name, stating black players should refuse to play for them as their controversial moniker is, “just as disgusting, and just as denigrating as the N-word in my estimation.”