Best Way To Solve The Washington Redskins Controversy: Ask All Native Americans

The most controversial and divisive on-field question affecting the NFL is not whether the Tush Push should be banned, or who should start at quarterback for the Colts, or what the Browns should do with Deshaun Watson. It's about the Washington Redskins nickname.

The question is whether to bring the nickname that stood for 87 years back to the NFL's Washington franchise, or should we stay on the same road first taken in 2020 when the team abandoned its traditional nickname in favor of the Washington Football Team and then the Washington Commanders?

Redskins Versus Commanders Debate Divisive

It's a contentious question -- one even the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has answered. And you know if Trump is picking a side, about half the country will automatically pick the other side just because that's how they're wired.

Trump is seemingly so committed to getting Commanders owner Josh Harris and the NFL to switch the nickname back, he's made a threat against the franchise related to the building of a new stadium in Washington D.C.

The President is serious. And Harris apparently is taking the threat seriously if a recent report from the New York Post is accurate. 

Muriel Bowser, mayor of the District of Columbia, from left, Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management Inc. and co-owner of the NFL's Washington Commanders, and US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, May 5, 2025. Trump announced on Monday that Washington, DC, will be the host city for the 2027 NFL draft. Photographer: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Josh Harris Worried About Trump?

The report states Harris and David Blitzer, who own the Commanders, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils through Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, "fear" they will have to make a decision on the nickname.

That fear stems from having to disappoint either the President, who holds sway over the federal land the new stadium is going to sit on, or liberals, who believe "Redskins" is an offensive term and a racial slur against Native Americans.

And to all that controversy and wringing of hands, I offer a viable and permanent solution on the matter: Let Native Americans decide.

It says here that Harris and his group should undertake a nationwide referendum asking Native Americans everywhere if they are offended by the Redskins nickname for the Washington franchise, or if they either support the nickname, or have no issue with the name.

LANDOVER, MD - OCTOBER 15: Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) takes his helmet off as he walks back to the locker room after a NFL football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins on October 15, 2017, at FedExField in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

A Referendum To Settle Redskins Debate

And whatever way the vote comes back, then Harris and his company pick that side. If Native Americans by and large hate Redskins, that name goes into the dustbin of history. If, on the other hand, Native Americans either embrace the nickname or feel no offense to the Redskins nickname, the Commanders nickname goes away like a hiccup and the Redskins name makes a return.

This has never been done before. 

There have been numerous surveys of Native Americans. The club used one done in the 1990s that showed wide popularity for Redskins among that population. And advocacy groups have done others showing disdain among Native Americans for the nickname.

I suppose it's all about who is paying for the survey and how the questions are phrased.

But I'm not talking about a survey that takes the opinions of maybe 1,500 people and turns that into a statement affecting millions of NFL fans.

I'm talking about asking every single Native American on the continent (or as close to that as possible) to chime in.

Dancers participate in the grand entry during the 75th Annual Indian Hills Pow Pow in Oklahoma City, Saturday, July, 26, 2025.

10 Million Native Americans Should Speak

I'm talking about going to the 547 recognized tribes in the United States and asking as many (all, preferably) their opinion on the subject. That's not a small endeavor, as the 2020 census reported there are 9.7 million people who identify as Native American in this country.

But that assignment is relatively small compared to the voting in the most recent U.S. election in which 156.3 million people cast ballots.

So, yes, ask every member of every tribe whether they support the Washington NFL franchise being named Redskins, or are offended by it.

Start with the biggest tribes – the Cherokee, Navajo, Apache, Sioux, Iroquois, Choctaw, Chippewa, Hopi, Creek, Blackfeet – and then go from there all the way from A to Z.

That's going to take time. We have time, because the club isn't changing its nickname for the 2025 season. 

And it's going to be expensive. But did I tell you Harris and his partners paid $6.05 billion for the team? And they're expecting to spend at least $2.7 billion of the $3.7 billion it's going to cost to build the new stadium? 

So what's some millions of dollars to pull off this referendum against that enormous investment?

Aug 15, 2019; Landover, MD, USA; A Washington Redskins fan looks on from the stands against the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Remove Non-Native Americans From Debate

This idea would empower Native Americans. It would also put to rest a national debate whose scope goes well beyond an NFL team's nickname.

It would settle an argument about language that the left and, since Trump chimed in, the right have been waging. Simply, people with no real – can I say it? – skin in the game have been telling everyone how to feel about this nickname issue and the word on the whole.

Well, I don't think Harris should really care what a liberal white women in San Francisco or a conservative Black or Hispanic man in Texas (they exist) think about the Redskins because of their political bent. 

Harris should care what Native Americans think about the Redskins nickname. 

And everyone else should sit this one out.