Washington Redskins paying Frank Luntz, Ari Fleischer, and George Allen for PR spin on their name

[Dusty Bake Activate]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/167084/d...e=WWW&utm_medium=csm&utm_campaign=syndication

The Washington Redskins are paying a team of high-profile consultants with ties to the Republican Party to advise the team on issues around its controversial name, a spokesperson for the team said in a statement to ThinkProgress on Friday. The spokesperson, vice president of communications Tony Wyllie, had previously denied that the team was paying the consultants when ThinkProgress learned of their involvement.

Emails obtained by ThinkProgress this week showed that the team consulted Republican messaging guru Frank Luntz, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, and former Republican governor and senator George Allen when asked about issues around the team’s name. Luntz runs Luntz Global, a communications firm. Fleischer runs Ari Fleischer Sports Communications. Allen, the brother of Redskins general manager and executive vice president Bruce Allen and son of former Redskins coach George Allen, runs the strategy firm George Allen Strategies.

“When I told you that the team we’re assembling to demonstrate why there is so much support for the Redskins name was not being compensated, I made a fundamental mistake — I did not check,” Wyllie said in an email statement Friday. “I was wrong and they are being compensated.”

Wyllie declined to offer specific details about the financial arrangements.

“Lanny is working with us,” Wyllie previously told ThinkProgress, referring to Lanny Davis, who served as a White House adviser under President Bill Clinton and has previously spoken publicly about his role with the team. “These other guys, they’re not working with us. …They’re not officially hired on.”

Wyllie originally confirmed that Luntz had worked with the Redskins when he conducted a focus group on behalf of the team in June 2013.

Luntz and Fleischer did not immediately return calls for comment about their involvement with the team. Allen did not immediately return an emailed request for comment.

Native American activists have fought to change the name of the Redskins for decades. The team’s name was the focus of a campaign spearheaded by activists and groups like the Oneida Indian Nation that sought to change the name of the team, which Oneida representative Ray Halbritter called a “dictionary-defined slur.”

 

[theworldismine13]

macaca lol

 

[Domingo Halliburton]

frank Lutz is a snake oil salesman

 

[Inglewood]

I think the name will be changed , eventually, later rather than sooner. I believe the NFL players will be the driving force of that change.

The NFL administration and the owner do not want the name to be changed.

 

[tru_m.a.c]

Man muhfukk that bullshyt. Its 100% the fault of racist ass deadskins fans. Point blank period. It makes no sense to me how they are absolved of any fault in this conversation.

Lets just keep it funky. They're more attached to the fukkn name of their butt ass, haven't won an important game in decades ass team, than they are to simple logic. Think about that. They're not losing their team. They are not losing their history. All thats changing is a fukkn name.

Seriously. This shyt gets deaded in days if deadskins fans say "I will not buy any clothing with a racist or derogatory name on it. I am throwing away everything that contains a derogatory or racist name."

 

[ADevilYouKhow]

i thought the redskins were atlanta?

 

[Domingo Halliburton]

i thought the redskins were atlanta?

what country are you from?

 

[The Real]

George Allen? Consultancy must be the single most vacuous, meaningless job title in the US.

 

[88m3]

pathetic

 

[mrken12]

Bet that they're still keeping the name though.

 

[Type Username Here]

I'm not surprised old white racists love racial slurs as team nicknames, but I am surprised at the number of young black people in the Coli who do. There was a thread back in the Seum that was highly disappointing. Of course, I'm assuming some of those posters are black and that's probably my mistake.

 

[KingpinOG]

Chilling.

 

[mrken12]

I'm not surprised old white racists love racial slurs as team nicknames, but I am surprised at the number of young black people in the Coli who do. There was a thread back in the Seum that was highly disappointing. Of course, I'm assuming some of those posters are black and that's probably my mistake.

So how do you explain schools in Native American communities calling their high school teams the Redskins?

 

[Type Username Here]

So how do you explain schools in Native American communities calling their high school teams the Redskins?

How do you explain instances of African Americans performing in blackface during the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s? Did it give the white people who were also doing it a pass?Are minstrel shows somehow acceptable because of this fact?

Stop it.

 

[mrken12]

How do you explain instances of African Americans performing in blackface during the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s?

That's not even close to the same comparison.