According to Daniel Snyder, owner of the National Football League Team formerly known as the Washington “Redskins,” “the name really means honor and respect.” For decades, Snyder pointed to polls that suggest majoritarian support among the American public to justify the continued use of the racially contested team moniker. However, Indigenous activists and their allies have long argued that the term “Redskins” is a racial slur. Using data from the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), this paper investigates the role of racial attitudes—specifically symbolic racism directed at Native Americans—in shaping public opinion about the name change during a period of heightened public attention to the debate over the team’s name. Our findings indicate that support for the continued use of the team’s name, though admittedly widespread among the American public, is in part influenced by negative racial attitudes directed at Native Americans. By engaging the literature on the politics of symbolic racism we demonstrate that, rather than “honoring” American Indians, those supportive of Native American mascots and symbols in professional football are significantly likely to begrudge them.

国家橄榄球联盟球队的老板丹尼尔·斯奈德（Daniel Snyder）以前是华盛顿的“红皮人”，他说，“这个名字的真正含义是荣誉和尊重。” 数十年来，斯奈德（Snyder）指出民意测验表明，美国公众支持多数派，以证明继续使用种族歧视的球队绰号是合理的。但是，土著活动家及其盟友长期以来一直在争辩说，“红皮”一词是种族歧视。利用2014年美国国会合作选举研究（CCES）的数据，本文研究了种族态度（尤其是针对美洲原住民的象征性种族主义）在形成公众对姓名更改的看法期间的作用，这一时期引起了公众的高度关注团队的名字。我们的发现表明，支持继续使用团队的名称，尽管被公认为在美国公众中普遍存在，但部分受到针对美洲原住民的负面种族态度的影响。通过研究有关象征性种族主义政治的文献，我们证明，支持美国原住民吉祥物和职业橄榄球中的标志的人们，与其“尊敬”美洲印第安人，不如说是在憎恨他们。