Balkinization  

Monday, July 06, 2020

Introducing...the Washington 68ers

Guest Blogger

Eric Lomazoff

(Adapted from @lomazoff Twitter thread )

I have a crazy idea for the Redskins name change. And it might be something we can all gather around.

We just celebrated Independence Day. America’s Birthday.

We  have a team named for that: The Philadelphia 76ers. [Disclaimer: Philly guy writing this.]

We celebrate Constitution Day every year. The Constitution was signed in Philly on September 17, 1787.

We used to have  a team named for this. The Delaware Blue Coats, the Sixers' G League team, used to be the Delaware 87ers.

We are about to celebrate the 152nd anniversary of the ratification of the 14th Amendment: July 9, 1868.

The 14th Amendment is the heart of the new constitutional order we were called to build following  the Civil War.

You know its most famous phrase: “Equal Protection of the Laws.”

And part of the reason you know it is simple: We’ve never lived up to its promise.

Indeed, the signs of that are everywhere you look.

But the call to build that  new constitutional order is still there. One that realizes the promise of the 14th Amendment.

So,  my proposal is simple: We rename the Washington NFL team the *Washington 68ers.*

Not for who we are. But for who we are called to be.

———-

Postscript: As  for the San Francisco 49ers, I got nothing for you on that one. Californians are crazy.

Eric Lomazoff is Associate Professor of Political Science at Villanova University. You can reach him by e-mail at eric.lomazoff at villanova.edu

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