XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: hgtv@fag.tv   
      
   MINNEAPOLIS -- The action at the Redskins-Vikings game started   
   Sunday morning outside the stadium in Minnesota, as a crowd   
   estimated by organizers around 5,000 rallied against   
   Washington's divisive nickname.   
      
   The event began with a march through the University of Minnesota   
   campus to TCF Bank Stadium, where Native American leaders, local   
   politicians, former sports stars and other speakers voiced their   
   disdain for Redskins owner Dan Snyder and his refusal to change   
   the nickname they've derided as derogatory and racist.   
      
   With many of the attendees wearing colorful, traditional Native   
   American clothing and more holding signs, the gathering was by   
   far the stiffest resistance for a Redskins road game and the   
   latest push in a nationwide campaign that has cranked up over   
   the last year. Some people wore burgundy T-shirts with gold   
   lettering, mimicking the team's logo with the words "Rethink"   
   and "Rename" instead of Redskins.   
      
   "We're not mascots!" said former Vikings strong safety Joey   
   Browner, one of 29 speakers who took the microphone on a lawn   
   just steps from the stadium entrances.   
      
   Browner, who is part Native American, wore a black Vikings cap   
   with a feather sticking up out of it.   
      
   "As a former player I feel really sad right now. ... This is   
   still standing in front of us," said Browner, a six-time Pro   
   Bowl pick, who called the nickname a "bullying tactic."   
      
   The university coordinated logistics for the march and rally and   
   organized programs on campus all week for awareness, discussion   
   and education related to the nickname issue. One of the many   
   institutions to call for a riddance of the Redskins name, the   
   university, lacked the legal or contractual authority under the   
   stadium use agreement with the Vikings to prevent the Redskins   
   from playing there.   
      
   The university pressed the Vikings to remove references to the   
   nickname and logo during the game, but the team deferred to NFL   
   policy.   
      
   The Vikings have said they've recognized the sensitivity of the   
   issue and have maintained "ongoing and respectful dialogue" on   
   the matter with Minnesota's significant Native American   
   communities, citing "strong and positive" relationships with   
   those groups.   
      
   "We respect and support our local community voices having an   
   opportunity to be heard on this issue," the Vikings said in a   
   statement earlier this week.   
      
   The NFL didn't immediately respond for comment on the protest.   
   Commissioner Roger Goodell said earlier this year the nickname   
   has been "presented in a way that honors Native Americans."   
      
   According to organizer Lonny Leitner, a pro-Redskins rally of   
   about 400 people, mostly Native Americans, also took place on   
   campus a couple of blocks away. Signs like "Native and proud to   
   be a Redskin" were present.   
      
   According to results of an Associated Press-GfK poll last   
   January, Snyder has support from the majority of the public.   
   Among adults surveyed, 83 percent said the Redskins should not   
   have to change their nickname.   
      
   Radio and television ads criticizing the nickname were rolled   
   out in the Twin Cities market leading up to the game, and the   
   city of Minneapolis to Hennepin County passed resolutions that   
   called for a change of the nickname. Plenty of prominent   
   Minnesota Democrats either spoke or attended the rally, from   
   members of Congress in Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum to state   
   legislators to Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges.   
      
   The two-hour series of speeches was a peaceful gathering,   
   including folk music and Native American dancers.   
      
   As the rally got going, a group paraded along the sidewalk   
   between the stadium and the stage, chanting: "Hey, hey, ho, ho,   
   this racist name has got to go!"   
      
   Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press   
      
   http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11809345/thousands-protest-   
   washington-redskins-name-minnesota-vikings-game   
      
        
      
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