...he's going to fight the REAL issues plaguing Native Americans.

http://deadspin.com/dan-snyder-is-starting-a-foundation-for-native-american-1550821668

Dan Snyder Is Starting A Foundation For Native Americans
By Sean Newell

This guy Snyder is so brazen, it's remarkable. In response to the growing sentiment that his franchise's name is an embarrassing and hateful relic, Dan Snyder is starting a foundation "to provide meaningful and measurable resources that provide genuine opportunities for Tribal communities." He's calling it the Original Americans Foundation. Dan Snyder's foundation to distract you from the racist slur on his letterhead is OAF.

Dan is playing the actions-speak-louder-than-words game and says what Native Americans really need is money, not the eradication of slurs. Luckily, Dan Snyder is grotesquely rich!

Through a letter to fans, which a few readers passed along, Snyder announced his intentions: "I've listened. I've learned. And frankly, its heart wrenching. It's not enough to celebrate the values and heritage of Native Americans. We must do more."

Snyder throws in a couple quotes from people that are the rough equivalent of the some of my best friends gambit and then says he and his OAF staff have already gotten to work. One of their efforts? Distributing winter coats to Native Americans in the frigid plains. That's one way of dealing with a problem. They also bought a backhoe to facilitate the completion of "the burial process for their loved ones even in the coldest winter months."

You can read the whole thing below:

THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS

March 24, 2014

To Everyone in our Washington Redskins Nation:

Several months ago I wrote you about my personal reflections on our team name and on our shared Washington Redskins heritage. I wrote then - and believe even more firmly now - that our team name captures the best of who we are and who we can be, by staying true to our history and honoring the deep and enduring values our name represents.

In that letter, I committed myself to listening and learning from all voices with a perspective about our Washington Redskins name. I've been encouraged by the thousands of fans across the country who support keeping the Redskins tradition alive. Most - by overwhelming majorities - find our name to be rooted in pride for our shared heritage and values.

"There are Native Americans everywhere that 100% support the name," Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians Chairwoman Mary L. Resvaloso told me when I came to visit her tribe. "I believe God has turned this around for something good." She told me that it was far more important for us to focus on the challenges of education in Native American communities. I listened closely, and pledged to her that I would find ways to improve the daily lives of people in her tribe.

What would my resolve to honoring our legacy mean if I myself - as the owner of and a passionate believer in the Washington Redskins - didn't stay true to my word? I wanted and needed to hear firsthand what Native Americans truly thought of our name, our logo, and whether we were, in fact, upholding the principle of respect in regard to the Native American community.

So over the past four months, my staff and I travelled to 26 Tribal reservations across twenty states to listen and learn first-hand about the views, attitudes, and experiences of the Tribes. We were invited into their homes, their Tribal Councils and their communities to learn more about the extraordinary daily challenges in their lives.

"I appreciated your sincerity to learn about our culture and the real-life issues we face on a daily basis," Pueblo of Zuni Governor Arlen Quetawki told us after we toured his reservation. "I look forward to working together with you to improve the lives of Native Americans in any way possible."

The more I heard, the more I've learned, and the more I saw, the more resolved I became about helping to address the challenges that plague the Native American community. In speaking face-to-face with Native American leaders and community members, it's plain to see they need action, not words.

Yes, some tribes are doing well. And in our candid conversations, we learned that we share so much with Indian country. We find their appreciation of history, legacy, caring for their elders and providing a better future for their youth inspirational and admirable.

But the fact is, too many Native American communities face much harsher, much more alarming realities. They have genuine issues they truly are worried about, and our team's name is not one of them. Here are just a few staggering, heartbreaking facts about the challenges facing Native Americans today:

— The official poverty rate on reservations is 29 percent, as determined by the U.S. Census.

36 percent of families with children are below the poverty line on reservations, compared with

9 percent of families nationally. Jobs are scarce, and so is genuine opportunity.

— Rampant diabetes, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, and heightened suicide rates afflict Native American youth, adults, and veterans. Life expectancies in high poverty Native American communities are the lowest anywhere in the Western Hemisphere — except for Haiti.

— Tribal reservations can lack even the most basic infrastructure that most Americans take for granted. For example, according to the independent, highly respected Millennium Project, 13 percent of Native American households have no access to safe water and/or wastewater disposal, compared with just 0.6 percent in non-native households. Similarly, 14 percent of homes on Native American reservations have no electricity, compared to just 1 percent among non-native households. It is hard to build for a better tomorrow without the basic needs of today.

These aren't rare circumstances. These are the unfortunate facts found throughout Indian country today.

I've listened. I've learned. And frankly, its heart wrenching. It's not enough to celebrate the values and heritage of Native Americans. We must do more.

I want to do more. I believe the Washington Redskins community should commit to making a real, lasting, positive impact on Native American quality of life — one tribe and one person at a time. I know we won't be able to fix every problem. But we need to make an impact.

And so I will take action.

As loyal fans of the Washington Redskins, I want you to know that tomorrow I will announce the creation of the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation.

The mission of the Original Americans Foundation is to provide meaningful and measurable resources that provide genuine opportunities for Tribal communities. With open arms and determined minds, we will work as partners to begin to tackle the troubling realities facing so many tribes across our country. Our efforts will address the urgent challenges plaguing Indian country based on what Tribal leaders tell us they need most. We may have created this new organization, but the direction of the Foundation is truly theirs.

Our work is already underway, under the leadership of Gary Edwards, a Cherokee and retired Deputy Assistant Director of the United States Secret Service, as well as a founder and chief executive officer of the National Native American Law Enforcement Association.

Because I'm so serious about the importance of this cause, I began our efforts quietly and respectfully, away from the spotlight, to learn and take direction from the Tribal leaders themselves. In addition to travelling and meeting in-person with Tribal communities, we took a survey of tribes across 100 reservations so that we could have an accurate assessment of the most pressing needs in each community.

The stories I heard and the experiences I witnessed were of children without winter coats or athletic shoes; students in makeshift classrooms without adequate school supplies; text books more than decades old; rampant and unnecessary suffering from preventable diseases like diabetes; economic hardship almost everywhere; and in too many places too few of the tools and technology that we all take for granted every day — computers, internet access, even cellphone coverage.

In the heart of America's Indian country, poverty is everywhere. That's not acceptable. We have so much, yet too many Native Americans have so little.

Our work has already begun:

— As the bitter Arctic winds swept across the Plains this winter, we distributed over 3,000 cold-weather coats to several tribes, as well as shoes to players on boys and girls basketball teams.

"It's been one of the coldest winters on record," Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Vice Chairman Boyd Gourneau told me. "The entire Tribe is so appreciative of the coats we received for our youth and elders. It's been such a great relationship, and we hope it grows."

— We assisted in the purchase of a new backhoe for the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska. The Tribe will now be able to complete the burial process for their loved ones even in the coldest winter months, as well as assist in water pipe repairs which, without a functioning backhoe, has left the tribe without water — for days.

These projects were the first of many and we currently have over forty additional projects currently in process. We look forward to telling you more about these as our work proceeds.

For too long, the struggles of Native Americans have been ignored, unnoticed and unresolved. As a team, we have honored them through our words and on the field, but now we will honor them through our actions. We commit to the tribes that we stand together with you, to help you build a brighter future for your communities.

The Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation will serve as a living, breathing legacy - and an ongoing reminder - of the heritage and tradition that is the Washington Redskins. I'm glad to be able to launch this vital initiative today.

With Respect and Appreciation,

Dan Snyder

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http://blog.melanism.com
http://twitter.com/Melanism
http://seanlovesthis.tumblr.com
http://www.formspring.me/seanathan
http://www.last.fm/user/Melanism
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meldotcom/

Why shoot the breeze about it when you can be about it?

I've always wondered why more rich scoundrels don't just buy the moral high ground.

and it's DEFINITELY not a high ground when you're using it to accomplish an unrelated goal.

this is identical to the casino owner who wants to build in my neighborhood but promises to "beautify." Yeah, we could use some better street lighting and clean up. But that doesn't mean you get to build a casino because you lit our streets better.

-----------
Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

If he helps one Native American person he is at net positive.

I think they should change the name too, but I can understand the strength of the brand makes it a hard sell for Snyder. He's not a klansman to me like I guess he is to all of you.

This is extra stupid.

Enjoy your crusade.

So we shiuld be cool with rich people buying the right to offend for economic reasons?
-----------
Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

i mean...LOL


does it really matter?

-----------
Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

Since the name is supposed to honor Native Americans, like he says. </'casm>

That letter is some straight BS. This dude is digging in for the looong haul. Asshole!

here, have some of it and shut up.

Well played, very well played

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
** i move away from the mic to breathe in

works for me

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“We’re glad that after a decade of owning the Washington team, Mr. Snyder is finally interested in Native American heritage, and we are hopeful that when his team finally stands on the right side of history and changes its name, he will honor the commitments to Native Americans that he is making,” Oneida Indian Nation representative Ray Halbritter said in a press release.

“We are also hopeful that in his new initiative to honor Native Americans’ struggle, Mr. Snyder makes sure people do not forget that he and his predecessor George Preston Marshall, a famous segregationist, have made our people’s lives so much more difficult by using a racial slur as the Washington team’s name.”

-----------
Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

as in, carries more weight than the numerous tribes who don't mind the name and actually use the name themselves? (there are some N-A highschools that use the Redskins name for their sports teams)

*NOTE: I'm actually for changing the name, I just wonder how the Oneida nation is able to keep driving this convo when other tribes are like "nah"
______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

are offended, not when all of them are. because that'll never happen and has never been the arbiter of offensiveness before.

-----------
Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

what is the true breakdown of those that feel offended?
in my world i know more white folks that are offended by the use of nigga than black folks

if it hurts a very vocal two percent of a group, should he care?

negatively affect self-esteem
http://ndsmcobserver.com/2014/03/professor-affirms-effects-indian-mascots/

why work so hard to continue to offend instead of not working so hard by just not offending?

-----------
Y'all stupid...should've tanked for Lebron/Wiggins in 2014 -Rex LongFellow

It's only funny till someone gets mad. Then it's hilarious.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2ih01ky.gif

...he would have called it The Redskins Foundation

<<<---"That's my quarterback!" (c) T.O.

...

my thoughts,

peace.

"oh, you donated money, now the name's not racist!"

- How Dan Snyder envisions public response

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Originally he made money packaging frat trips to Spring Break in Florida.

His business track record is questionable.

Ironically his failure to win games is inversely proportional to his ability to make money off the fan base.

Though he inherited a passionate fan base, he didn't create it.

Yet more privilege Snyder was handed.

Always wild to see just how disconnected with reality some people have become.

With Snyder, the bottom line always seems to a factor. So beyond the perceived PR benefits, I'm guessing that it's not a coincidence that he set up this foundation at a time when the stock market is performing so strongly.

Per Wikipedia:

"The Tax Reform Act of 1969 defined the fundamental social contract offered to private foundations. In exchange for exemption from paying most taxes and for limited tax benefits being offered to donors, a private foundation must pay out at least 5% of the value of its endowment each year...Administrative and operating expenses count towards the 5% requirement; they range from trivial at small unstaffed foundations, to more than half a percent of the endowment value at larger staffed ones. Congressional proposals to exclude those costs from the payout requirement typically receive much attention during boom periods when foundation endowments are earning investment returns much greater than 5% (such as the late 1990s); the idea typically fades when foundation endowments are shrinking in a down market (such as 2001-2003)."

To honor all the sacrifice Native Americans have made over the last few centuries, all Redskin Redskins get two Bud Lights for the price of one! More firewater for less wampum!

It's just tiring. And we've got a pseudo-competitive basketball team, an at least usually interesting hockey team, a genuinely exciting baseball team...

It's just fatiguing man. I'm spent.

He's an asshole, he employs assholes, his stadium sucks, the uniforms are dated, parking is a pain in the ass, the field surface is the worst in the league, the name is blatantly racist by the way, they're 10 years behind the league when it comes to talent, the quarterback is obviously an immature narcissist, Clinton Portis still annoys me, the only once in a generation talent we had was murdered, beers are 13 dollars, we have the worst pass rush I've ever seen, we didn't address secondary in free agency because why would we it's only the most obvious fucking position of need we have, they just installed an HD video board LAST YEAR IN 2013 WTF, had to watch Jason Campbell, had to watch Donovan McNabb, had to watch Rex Grossman, had to watch John Beck, had to watch Rex Grossman again, they're considering building a new stadium in the District but they'll fuck that up and put a dome on it so we can host a Super Bowl, which in turn is maddening because we're sadly more likely to host a Super Bowl IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA than we are to actually go to one, there's the never ending and completely unnecessary Kirk Cousins bullshit, and the owner sues newspapers.

He is and we are THE WORST.

There's nothing to like about this team except for Alfred Morris. Like, seriously, nothing.

...

the Calabasas Cuckolders and then creating a fake charity to gain public sympathy.

- Hari Kondabolu

I've wanted a name change since forever.

Haven't heard shit about affordable housing developments, scholarship endowments, technology overhaul and rebuilding of schools, proper sewer lines.

Let's see Danny Boy touch THAT shit over the next ten years.

>Haven't heard shit about affordable housing developments,
>scholarship endowments, technology overhaul and rebuilding of
>schools, proper sewer lines.
>
>Let's see Danny Boy touch THAT shit over the next ten years.

I was like "really, coats!" Then I was like, I bet they are "Redskins" coats.

But like you said, coat are nice and all, especially in winter, but there are A LOT more pressing issues to address, like you mentioned in your post.


...

my thoughts,

peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm-HwTHvp9Q


<<<---"That's my quarterback!" (c) T.O.

...

my thoughts,

peace.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/b6cwb3/sport-report---professional-soccer-toddler--golf-innovations---washington-redskins-charm-offensive

!

Assisted? You mean you didn't just buy them one outright?

The NFL should ban the word from broadcasts (as well as networks) and all advertising

commentators that say the name should be fined by the FCC

basically, this should be treated like the n word

and as much support there is against racism in other examples

this one seems strange that there doesn't seem to be much reaction from fans

CHANGE THE NAME.

Any chance sponsors leave?
Is the NFL losing any money?

No?

Probably won't happen then.

The team name is a racist slur

why is it allowed to be broadcast?

you want native americans to boycott...what exactly?

the point is, in light of recent events

EVERYBODY came together and got a result

and that's what needs to happens here

that we are one campaign needs to make its way to DC

for all the talk about institutionlized racism

this goes unchecked

porque?

win/win

unless "native" is considered offensive too.

Native Americans as mascots is a cruel reminder of how marginalized they are

might as well call the team "Vanishing Americans" a la Moral Orel

unlike, the Celtics of Boston for example, Native people don't have any
actual ownership of or affinity towards D.C. and its sports teams.
same is true for almost every team called the "Indians" or some equivalent

keep the logo

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lose the native american imagery though.

http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/pict/370500829624_4.jpg

But they might to get that cleared.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx9pXSaAAps

it's hypocritical at this point