FedEx pressured to drop Redskins

Tribal chief: No FedEx until Redskins change team name

By Eliott C. McLaughlinA Native American chief has asked all tribal employees to refrain from using FedEx until the Washington Redskins changes its team name.

"Until the name of the NFL team is changed to something less inflammatory and insulting, I direct all employees to refrain from using FedEx when there is an alternative available," Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey M. Standing Bear penned in his directive to all employees.

The tribe also issued a news release saying that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder "chooses to stick with a brand which dictionaries define as disparaging and offensive. FedEx chose to endorse that brand through their sponsorship of Mr. Snyder's organization."

It concludes, "The Osage Nation chooses not to use FedEx services. We encourage other tribal nations to consider similar actions."VizExplorer, a gaming company that does business with tribal casinos, is also halting its use of FedEx in Indian country.

Then there's this:

FedEx Votes Down Proposal To Drop Sponsorship Of ‘Redskins’ Stadium, Citing Some B.S.

By Eric GoldscheinOne major sponsor has finally made its collective feelings about the name public, via a motion at an annual shareholder’s meeting. Via Bloomberg:FedEx Corp. (FDX) shareholders rejected a proposal from the Oneida Indian tribe to “drop or distance” its ties to the Washington Redskins, including sponsorship of the team’s stadium.

The motion involving the National Football League was presented from the floor of the shipping company’s annual shareholder meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, today after FedEx won the right from federal regulators to omit it from its proxy materials. The Redskins have been under pressure to change their name from a group of Native Americans who argue it’s offensive.The vote wasn’t even close, with 228.6 million shares against the proposal to change the name and 203,521 shares for it. Though FedEx would neither confirm nor deny whether this vote was for a binding proposal, the author of the Bloomberg article told SportsGrid that this “wasn’t a non-binding proposal.”The column's conclusion:Sponsors can put as much distance between themselves and the name as they want, but until they cut ties altogether, they are complicit in continuing the usage of a slur for a football team. They might not have to stand up and defend it for themselves like Dan Synder does, but their implicit support should not go unnoticed.Comment:  For more on the subject, see FedEx Criticized for Sponsoring Redskins and FedEx Targeted for Sponsoring Redskins.