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Thoughts on the Washington Redskins harassment scandal

By Ian Cummings

LANDOVER, MARYLAND - JULY 13: Washington Redskins signage is every where, including light poles in the parking lot at FedEx Field July 13, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. The team announced Monday that owner Daniel Snyder and coach Ron Rivera are working on finding a replacement for its racist name and logo after 87 years. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MARYLAND - JULY 13: Washington Redskins signage is every where, including light poles in the parking lot at FedEx Field July 13, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. The team announced Monday that owner Daniel Snyder and coach Ron Rivera are working on finding a replacement for its racist name and logo after 87 years. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MD – OCTOBER 9: A Washington Redskins helmet sits on the field prior to the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on October 9, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – OCTOBER 9: A Washington Redskins helmet sits on the field prior to the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on October 9, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images) /

The national response

The buildup for ahead of the Washington Post story containing allegations of sexual harassment spanned over a number of days, and featured dozens of writers and national reporters hinting at a coming bombshell, tantalizing onlookers with the promise of controversy.

This inflammatory process went on for almost a week ahead of the story’s release, perhaps coaxing onlookers’ expectations to an unrealistic place. By the end, there were rumors of damaging “sex parties” hosted by Dan Snyder and Jay Gruden, as well as exchanges of intimacy for news leads, and even drug abuse.

To some, the Washington Post article didn’t live up to the hype. But that shouldn’t matter.

Regardless of what was expected from the Post article by some, the contents of the article still detailed a festering toxic culture, in which female employees trying to live out their dream in sports felt dehumanized on a daily basis. The article still made clear that women were reluctant to come forward, for fear of being retaliated against or even fired.

The article still detailed absolute indifference regarding the culture from the owner, and established that sexism was an uneven staple of the organization for over a decade.

The response shouldn’t be “it’s not as bad as I thought it would be” or “it’s just a standard locker room setting” or “this happens everywhere”. The response should be “something is wrong. Someone was hurt by this. How can we fix it here, and how can we fix it elsewhere?” Comparing evils is a dangerous exercise. In doing so, one evil may go overlooked, preserved by complacency, That’s one evil too many.

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