Hail to the Redtails!
Hail victory!
Ambiguous species with rose-tinted rear appendage or Tuskegee Airmen on the warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
That's how fans may sing the Washington Redskins fight song if D.C. Councilmember, and HuffPost blogger, David Grosso (I-At Large) gets his way.
Grosso will introduce a nonbinding resolution to the council calling for the Redskins to change their name, which he -- certainly not alone -- describes as "racist."
Grosso is offering Redtails as a possible replacement name, according to the Washington Post, which reports on Grosso's plans to introduce the resolution soon:
According to Grosso’s resolution, which he said he plans to formally introduce in a few weeks, the 13-member council would declare that “District residents and their elected representatives should not tolerate commercial or other use of derogatory terminology relating to any people’s racial identity, or which dishonors any person’s race, or which dishonors the name Washington.”
“Washington’s name has been dishonored by association with the word ‘Redskins,’ ” the resolution states. “Because it is well known in America and in nations afar that American Indians have experienced utmost suffering and disrespect over the years.”
The name would honor the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American Air Force members who served during World War II, Grosso noted in the resolution. A film about the airmen titled "Red Tails" was released in 2012.
The "redtail" name can be applied to a number of other things as well, including a species North American hawk, a Central American boa constrictor and a freshwater fish found in Thailand, among others.
The resolution follows a groundswelling of support for the popular and storied Washington football franchise changing its name.
In October 2012, the Washington City Paper declared that it would no longer refer to the football team as the "Redskins" and would instead refer to them as the "Pigskins."
Support from the District officials is not new either. In January, following the Redskins' loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL playoffs, Mayor Vincent Gray (D) said that the Redskins would seriously need to consider changing its name if the team ever wanted to move back to the city.
It appears that Grosso's resolution may have some support on the Council. The first-year councilmember tells the Washington Post that two other members -- Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) and Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) -- have agreed to cosponsor his measure.
However, any name change would have to first gain support from the franchise, where things look less promising. In February, the team released a story in what seemed like an attempt to justify the Redskins name by stating that "70 different high schools" use the name Redskins.
Here's Twitter's (sometimes profane) reaction to the proposed name change -- tell us what you think in the comments!