That’s what Josh Levin dubs Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s new “Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation”:
If you want my money, he’s saying, you’re going to have to choke down my nickname along with it. This is the essence of Dan Snyder: He can’t do good works without shoving his badness in your face.
Arturo García is equally unimpressed:
Snyder reached out to 26 tribes over a four-month period before launching the foundation, which has already distributed more than 3,000 winter coats and basketball shoes to several tribes, as well as a new backhoe for the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska. But, as Indian Country Today Media Network noted, there are more than 300 reservations in the U.S. , meaning Snyder is relying on approval from .08 percent of the country’s Native population. As Racialicious has previously reported, a study released last October by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) showed the team’s name was met with disapproval from 80 percent of Native communities.
Will Bunch piles on:
I’m not against the concept of philanthropy. And certainly America’s Native Americans, especially those still living on isolated reservations, need a helping hand to deal with crippling poverty and the social problems that stem from that. But there should be no such thing as billionaires buying a “Get Out Of Doing What’s Right, Free” card. I was struck by what Peter Buffett wrote last year about philanthropy and “what I would call ‘conscience laundering’ – feeling better about accumulating more than any one person could possibly need to live on by sprinkling a little around as an act of charity.” Now here’s Dan Snyder to take “conscience laundering” to a new ridiculous height.
But Marc Tracy sees it as a small step in the right direction:
Is this a clever act of jiu-jitsu that, months and years from now, will be seen as having gotten Snyder out of the corner his stubbornness had previously trapped him in? Or did he just make a significant concession that has led him one step closer to changing the name? Many will say it’s the former. I say it’s the latter.
Find the comprehensive Dish thread “Do Mascots Need Modernizing?” here.
(Photo: Fans of the Washington Redskins cheer against the Dallas Cowboys at FedExField on December 30, 2012 in Landover, Maryland. The Redskins defeated the Cowboys 28-18. By Larry French/Getty Images)
The Dish 