"Intending to honor something is a lot different than actually honoring it." So said John Oliver, the host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight," on Nov. 8, 2015. His point about the name of the Washington NFL franchise and its bully of an owner rings true in my encounter this fall with the board of education of the Montgomery County public schools in suburban Maryland.
On Sept. 11, I was dropping my child off at kindergarten for his first day of school, when I encountered the principal and several staff members celebrating the start of the NFL season and the Washington team's first NFL home game. They were wearing the team's merchandise while greeting students outside the school. As a Native American who's lived in the Washington area since 1999, I initially gritted my teeth and thought about ignoring the issue, until I saw the name of the team written on the sleeve of the principal's shirt …
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