Anti-Washington Redskins Ad to Air During NBA Finals (Video)Anti-Washington Redskins Ad to Air During NBA Finals (Video)
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Anti-Washington Redskins Ad
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A 60-second anti-Washington Redskins ad will air tonight during halftime of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Spurs and the Heat.
The "Proud to Be" ad (video below) was produced by the National Congress of American Indians, which tried to air it during the NFL Super Bowl earlier this year, but was turned down. A two-minute version of the ad ended up on YouTube where it has over one million views.
The California-based Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation says it was a "significant investment" to buy airtime tonight in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco and Washington D.C., notes The Washington Post.
“It’s just a time to get people thinking about putting an end to outward hatred and using sports as a tool to focus on racism,” Chairman Marshall McKay, of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, said in a statement.
The Washington Redskins have faced extreme pressure to change their name, but team owner Daniel Snyder refuses to do so and calls the name a “badge of honor.”
In the ad that will air tonight, several tribal names as well as "indomitable, unyielding, patriot and survivor" are mentioned, notes the New York Daily News.
But then a voiceover states, “Native Americans call themselves many things. The one thing they don’t." The video then shows a Washington Redskins helmet.
Sources: New York Daily News and The Washington Post
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