SHARE has joined investors representing more than $620 billion in assets calling for NIKE, PepsiCo, and FedEx to terminate business with the NFL’s Washington D.C. franchise if it fails to cease using the racial slur “R*dsk*ns” as its name.
SHARE and RRII stand in solidarity alongside First Peoples Worldwide, the Oneida Trust, and others involved in the Investors and Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IIPWG), which has engaged companies for years seeking an end to the use of the racist name and logo. Opposition to the name of this franchise is also being advanced by the National Congress of American Indians, Illuminative, and other U.S.-based Indigenous groups.
At SHARE, Indigenous rights and reconciliation are cornerstones of our own engagement work in Canada and internationally. This campaign is also in line with the mission and work of the RRII, which strives to align capital with Indigenous values. We believe that, together, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous investors can build capital markets that integrate and better align with Indigenous values and ways of knowing.
There is no place for racism anywhere. The time is now for investors to champion reconciliation and ensure the respect of Indigenous peoples worldwide.
For more information about this campaign, read more from First Peoples Worldwide here and see the public letter here.
July 14, 2020
UPDATE
Two weeks ago, we told you of the renewed campaign seeking an end to the use of the NFL’s Washington D.C. franchise’s use of a racial slur as its name. At that point, RRII and SHARE joined U.S. allies and investors representing more than $620 billion in assets in calling on NIKE, PepsiCo, and FedEx to terminate business with the Washington D.C. franchise if it does not stop using the current racist name and logo.
As a result of the added pressure from sponsors and the public, yesterday, the Washington team committed to changing its name. This historic announcement is long overdue. The use of race- and ethnicity-based mascots and monikers by for-profit companies is an outdated practice that has no place in a society striving for equity and reconciliation.
We applaud the efforts of the many Indigenous leaders whom have pushed for this change for years. Read the response from First Peoples Worldwide here.
Additional Resources
• Resolution: Opposing the Washington NFL Team’s Return to the District of Columbia until the Franchise Changes Its Offensive Name (Resolution; 2018)
• Ending the Era of Harmful ‘Indian’ Mascots (Video)
• The psycho-social effects of Native American mascots: a comprehensive review of empirical research findings, Race Ethnicity and Education by Laurel R. Davis-Delano, Joseph P. Gone & Stephanie A. Fryberg (PDF; 2020)
• The Harmful Psychological Effects of the Washington Football Mascot (PDF; 2013)
