Churches call for Redskins boycott

Mid-Atlantic United Church of Christ leaders vote to boycott Redskins games and gear

By Theresa VargasThe United Church of Christ’s regional governing body has passed a resolution that calls on its members to do more than just speak against the name of the Washington Redskins—it asks them to boycott the football team.

The Central Atlantic Conference, which oversees 180 congregations with 40,000 members from Richmond to New Jersey, voted unanimously for a boycott of the team’s games and gear at its annual meeting Saturday in Newark, Del. The matter will now probably be brought to the national governing body of the church, which oversees 5,100 congregations with about 1 million members.

“I hope this debate will continue to draw attention to an unhealed wound in our cultural fabric,” Conference Minister John Deckenback said about the resolution’s passage. “Changing the name of the Washington NFL team will not solve the problems of our country’s many trails of broken promises and discriminatory isolation of our Native American communities. However, a change in the nation’s capital can send a strong message.”

The vote comes weeks after 50 U.S. senators signed a letter calling for a name change and during the same week that a California tribe paid for an anti-Redskins ad to run during television broadcasts of the National Basketball Association’s championship series in eight major cities.United Church of Christ Eastern Bloc Votes to Boycott ‘Redskins’The United Church of Christ’s Central Atlantic Conference passed a resolution calling for its members to boycott the Washington ‘Redskins’. The church’s 180 congregations and more than 40,000 local members were asked to refrain from supporting the team by buying its merchandise or going to any of the team’s games.

The Washington Post reported that the Conference voted unanimously for the boycott during its annual meeting Saturday in Newark, Delaware. “I hope this debate will continue to draw attention to an unhealed wound in our cultural fabric,” Conference Minister John Deckenback said in a news release. “Changing the name of the Washington NFL team will not solve the problems of our country’s many trails of broken promises and discriminatory isolation of our Native American communities. However, a change in the nation’s capital can send a strong message.”

The church’s central region includes congregations in Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and parts of Virginia and West Virginia. The matter will most likely be brought to the national governing body of the church, which oversees 5,100 congregations with about 1 million members, The Post reported.

Ray Halbritter, CEO of the Oneida Indian Nation, which created the Change the Mascot campaign, spoke to the conference members before they voted on Saturday. “It is truly an honor to partner with and have the support of the United Church of Christ, an organization that has such a historic record standing up for the cause of civil rights,” said Halbritter in a news release. “It is important to have the support of organizations like theirs as we work to relegate one of the last vestiges of racism to the historical scrap heap and come together to usher in an era where mutual respect finally becomes the norm, rather than the exception.”UCC Central Atlantic Conference Passes Resolution Calling for Washington NFL Team Name Change & Calls for Member Boycott