The Obama administration does not want the Washington Redskins playing home games in D.C. because of issues stemming from the team’s name.
The Redskins have been engaging in early talks about a potential stadium re-location into downtown D.C. — the team currently plays at FedEx field in Maryland. The Redskins historically played in the District and between the years of 1961 and 1996 the team called Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium home.
The land that RFK Stadium sits on belongs to the National Park Service. However, there have been discussions among local politicians who would like to see a new stadium built where RFK currently sits, in an effort to bring football back into D.C.
Current Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is opposed to the move for as long as the Redskins keep their current name, “Personally, I think we would never consider naming a team the ‘Blackskins’ or the ‘Brownskins’ or the ‘Whiteskins.’ So, personally, I find it surprising that in this day and age, the name is not different,” she told ABC News.
Obama spoke about Redskins and their name in 2013, “If I were the owner of the team and I knew that the name of my team, even if they’ve had a storied history, that was offending a sizable group of people, I’d think about changing it.”
However, with limited time left in Obama’s presidency it will likely be an issue for a future administration to tackle.