It's 2024 and Kansas City's NFL team still hasn't changed their name?! (sign the petition)

Kansas City's NFL team name and imagery is rooted in a history of racist depictions of Native people in America. The time is NOW to adopt a new name.

Sign my petition to demand that the Kansas City NFL team change their racist name and imagery NOW!

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

In the past five years, Kansas City's NFL team has made it to the Super Bowl four times, including this year's Super Bowl happening this weekend. But the truth is that their team name and imagery is rooted in a history of racist depictions of Native people in America.¹

Will you rise in solidarity with Native people like me and sign my petition demanding that the Kansas City football team change their racist name and imagery NOW?

There is a history of racist images, names, and tropes around sports teams—and fortunately, team after team is finally recognizing that and changing its ways. Football's Washington Commanders and baseball's Cleveland Guardians are two recent examples of major sports teams listening to Native people and fans, finally recognizing that they needed to change their names, imagery, and culture, and doing so successfully thanks to the tireless organizing of Native people over decades.^2,3

When professional teams change course, high school and college teams follow. So the Kansas City NFL team can show the 1,200 schools that use Native imagery and mascots that the time for change is NOW. We can make that happen, but only if we come together.

Sign the petition: The time is NOW for the Kansas city NFL team to change their racist name and imagery.

The Kansas City team must adopt a new name to break away from this offensive colonialist history, now. Native people and communities are not mascots; we are people, and we are still here.

The Kansas City team knows it has a problem. Over recent years, it has adjusted its imagery, banned fans from donning war paint, and tried to stifle "war chants" in their stadium in their efforts to confront racist, misinformed, and offensive stereotypes.

Yet these behaviors persist, amplifying the harm, oppression, and intergenerational trauma they cause.⁴

Enough is enough. Kansas City must do the right thing and change their racist team name and imagery NOW.

Leaders, historians, psychologists, and social scientists have concluded that "Native mascots are part of a much larger web of phenomena that contribute to oppression faced by Native Americans, and thus it seems clear that these mascots should be eliminated."⁵ That's why it's so important to consult Native leaders and organizations who have been at the forefront of these fights.

Kansas City has a rich and diverse history—and now it has a nationally recognized football team. Words have power. Symbols have power. All racist imagery—the team's name, logo, practices, culture, and rituals—must be changed to show respect for Native peoples. 

Click here to add your name to my petition, and then pass it along to three friends to spread the word.

Thanks for all you do.

–Christopher Kilner, The Woape Foundation

Sources:

1. "Why Haven't the Kansas City Chiefs Changed Their Name?" Vogue, February 1, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/186344?t=9&akid=374778%2E53570607%2EeobcAE

2. "Why Are the Kansas City Chiefs Still the Chiefs?" Midstory, February 14, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/186345?t=11&akid=374778%2E53570607%2EeobcAE

3. "Native Americans are protesting Kansas City Chiefs ahead of Super Bowl," Axios, February 9, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/170449?t=13&akid=374778%2E53570607%2EeobcAE

4. "Kill the Native—Save the Mascot? Surviving Education with Campus Climates Embedded in Passive Acceptance of Racism," About Campus, July-August, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/186356?t=15&akid=374778%2E53570607%2EeobcAE

5. "Study finds only negative effects from Native-themed mascots," Indian Country Today, June 15, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/170444?t=17&akid=374778%2E53570607%2EeobcAE

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