Source: Frederick Breedon / Getty
Thanksgiving is always home to some of the most anticipated football games of the season.
This year, we have the Minnesota Vikings going up against the Detroit Lions to start things off, then the Dallas Cowboys playing the Los Angeles Chargers. And the primetime spot goes to the Washington Washington Football Team and the New York Giants. While both teams haven’t been playing their best football this season, a larger issue is at hand—the game won’t be hosted at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. For the first time ever, the Washington Washington Football Team will be playing a home game on Thanksgiving.
The fight for the National Football League (NFL) to change the team’s name—which is a racial slur toward Native Americans—is ongoing and to some, hosting a Thanksgiving game makes things even worse.
Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation, took to Twitter in opposition to the game and announced that there will be a Justice for Natives Rally at the D.C. stadium on Thanksgiving Day at noon.
The debate to change the name has even reached the Department of Justice, which gave up the fight to change the name back in June after the Supreme Court ruled that an Asian-American rock band could call itself The Slants. According to The Washington Post, the court ruled that “a key section of federal law banning trademarks that ‘may disparage’ people was a violation of the First Amendment.” It marked a poignant moment in a battle that’s been going on for nearly 25 years.
The legal case may be over, but the cause isn’t.
