[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 86 (Monday, June 17, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H3657-H3658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE'S WASHINGTON FOOTBALL FRANCHISE NAME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to denounce the 
disparaging name of the National Football League's Washington, D.C., 
franchise, the Redskins, which I will refer to as the ``R-word.'' The 
Native American community has spent millions of dollars over the past 
two decades to fight the racism that is perpetuated by this slur. 
Despite their best efforts, our Native American brothers' and sisters' 
cries have fallen on deaf ears. Such an impasse is largely due to the 
widespread ignorance regarding the history of this denigrating term. 
Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with my colleagues the painful and 
violent past associated with the ``R-word.''
  The origin of the ``R-word'' is commonly attributed to the historical 
practice of trading Native American Indian skins, Mr. Speaker, Native 
American Indian skins and body parts as bounties and trophies. For 
example, in 1749, the British bounty on the Mi'kmaq Nation of what is 
now Maine and Nova Scotia was a straightforward ``10 guineas for every 
Indian Mi'kmaq taken or killed, to be paid upon producing such savage 
taken or his scalp.''
  Just as devastating was the Phips Proclamation, issued in 1755 by 
Spencer Phips, lieutenant governor and commander in chief of the 
Massachusetts Bay Province, who called for the wholesale extermination 
of the Penobscot Indian Nation. The Phips Proclamation declared the 
Penobscot to be ``enemies, rebels, and traitors to his Majesty King 
George, II'' and required those residing in the province to ``embrace 
all opportunities of pursuing, capturing, killing, and destroying all 
and every of the aforesaid Indians.''
  By vote of the General Court of the Province, white settlers were 
paid out of the public treasury for killing and scalping the Penobscot 
people. The bounty for a male Penobscot Indian above the age of 12 was 
50 pounds, and his scalp was worth 40 pounds. The bounty for a female 
Penobscot Indian of any age and for males under the age of 12 was 25 
pounds, while their scalps were worth 20 pounds. Historical accounts 
show that these scalps were called ``Redskins.''
  The current chairman and chief of the Penobscot Nation, Chief Kirk 
Francis recently declared in a joint statement that the ``R-word'' is 
``not just a racial slur or a derogatory term,'' but a painful 
``reminder of one of the most gruesome acts of ethnic cleansing ever 
committed against the Penobscot people.'' The hunting and killing of 
Penobscot Indians, as stated by Chief Francis, Mr. Speaker, was ``a 
most despicable and disgraceful act of genocide.''
  Mr. Speaker, such disgrace continues to live on through Washington's 
franchise's name. In a recent letter to 10 of our colleagues, the 
National Football League's Commissioner Roger Goodell said essentially 
that the use of the ``R-word'' is meant to honor Native Americans. 
Baloney. He added, ``For the team's millions of fans and customers, the 
name is a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride, and 
respect.'' In other words, Mr. Speaker, the National Football League is 
telling everyone--Native Americans included--that they cannot be 
offended because the National Football League means no offense.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Goodell's casual and dismissive response is 
indicative of the racist history beyond the Washington franchise's 
name. Its founder, George Preston Marshall, is identified by historians 
as the driving force behind the color barrier that existed for 12 years 
in the National Football League, a sad chapter from 1934 to 1945 when 
African Americans were prohibited from the league by a ``gentleman's 
agreement'' that we're not allowed to play. Mr. Marshall changed the 
team's name from the Braves in 1933, and after the NFL's color line was 
crossed in 1946, Marshall's franchise was the last team on the field 
where African Americans were allowed to play--and not until 1962.
  I might also add that Mr. Marshall did not welcome African American 
players with open arms. It was then that Secretary of the Interior, 
Stewart Udall, and Attorney General Robert F.

[[Page H3658]]

Kennedy presented Marshall with an ultimatum: unless Marshall signed an 
African American player, the government would revoke his franchise's 
30-year lease of the use of the stadium here in the District of 
Columbia.
  Mr. Speaker, today, we find ourselves fighting the same racist 
threads that pervaded the Washington franchise for more than 50 years. 
We simply cannot continue to carry on hateful traditions that mock, 
belittle, disparage, and disgrace those of a different race because of 
the color of their skin. As a Nation, we have come too far to fight for 
these rights, and I think Native Americans deserve to have a better 
sense of self-esteem and dignity.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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