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The Washington football team sent out a tweet this afternoon enlisting fans to tell Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid what the team’s name means to them, using the hashtag #[Pigskins]Pride. The campaign came in response to a letter from Reid and 49 other Senate Democrats to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell urging him to pressure team owner Dan Snyder to change the team’s “usually offensive” name.
The team, though, seems to have forgotten the first rule of social media campaigns: They can, and will, backfire.
A sampling of tweets using the team’s hashtag found quite a few that may not have had the effect officials were looking for.
.@Redskins @SenatorReid Hitler studied American Indian reservations while designing German concentration camps. #RedskinsPride!
— The Blob (1988) Delaney (@robdelaney) May 29, 2014
https://twitter.com/ExumAM/status/472097215167877120
Dan Snyder is a scumbag. Happy? RT @Redskins: Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you.
— Dave Weigel, Re-Animator (@daveweigel) May 29, 2014
https://twitter.com/Bill_TPA/status/472090613307809792
.@Redskins boy, good thing the systematic slaughter of indigenous people was managed better than this twitter account! #redskinspride
— Federal Bean Inspector (@McLeemz) May 29, 2014
The fruits of genocide? "@Redskins Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you."
— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) May 29, 2014
@Redskins @SenatorReid #RedskinsPride? No, a slur that should have gone the way of the dinosaurs long ago.
— Mary (@dainenyu) May 29, 2014
Hey, #NotAllWhitePeople slaughtered the Native Americans! #RedskinsPride
— Has More Sense Than Jeffrey Toobin (@charlesthomas) May 29, 2014
@Redskins genocide, decimation, forceful removal, racism… That's what it means to me #RedskinsPride -M
— Going MAD (@GoingM_A_D) May 29, 2014
Lifelong fan. Ready for a change. RT “@Redskins: Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you.”
— rowjimmy (J.M.Hart) (@rowj) May 29, 2014
https://twitter.com/PJGJ03/status/472100241106550784
Reminder of slaughtering of my native ancestors&history of teams discrimination towards my black ones? @Redskins @SenatorReid #RedskinsPride
— Amber Bárbara (@BlackMagic_Psy) May 29, 2014
Team president Bruce Allen also sent a letter to Reid’s office last week, saying the team name actually honors the legacy of Native Americans. Reid’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on the Pigskins’ latest gambit.
Photo by Darrow Montgomery