Reid: Redskins will change name within three years

The Washington Redskins will change their name in the next three years, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) predicted Thursday.

{mosads}Reid, who has spoken out against the team name, said team owner Dan Snyder in not the only person with money and influence. 

“I think the name will be changed within the next three years,” he told The Washington Post. “You know, I may slip a year or two, but I think it’s just a question of time, because Native Americans are organized. We have Native Americans who now are not all poor. We’ve got these Indian gaming establishments who have money, who are gonna help with this. And Dan Snyder’s not the only person in the world with money.”

Last December, Reid told The Hill that people cannot live in a society that denigrates a whole race of people, referring to the name that is offensive to some Native Americans. 

“And that’s what that is. I mean, you can’t have the Washington Blackskins. I think it’s so shortsighted,” he said at the time.

Reid also on Thursday blasted a new foundation Snyder created to support Native Americans, which is named the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation. Snyder announced the foundation was the result of months of research and highlighted a number of donations the foundation has handed out. 

“Dan Snyder, he’s got a great new deal,” Reid said. “He’s going to throw a few blankets to the Indians and get a tax deduction for it. I can’t imagine why the man doesn’t realize that the name is going to change.”

Reid compared the situation to Washington’s basketball team, which changed its name in 1995.

“Snyder has to realize, he is on the losing side of history. And the sooner he does it, the better off we are. The Wizards, you know, they were the Washington Bullets,” he said. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Obama have also spoken out against the name.