The Washington Post editorial board announced today it will stop using the word "Redskins" to refer to DC's professional football team.

The decision comes after "many years" of advocating that the team change its obviously racist name, the board writes:

But the matter seems clearer to us now than ever, and while we wait for the National Football League to catch up with thoughtful opinion and common decency, we have decided that, except when it is essential for clarity or effect, we will no longer use the slur ourselves. That's the standard we apply to all offensive vocabulary, and the team name unquestionably offends not only many Native Americans but many other Americans, too.

Politely, it insists that fans who back the name don't necessarily "have racist feeling or intent," and makes clear that its decision won't affect the Post's sports page or any other non-editorial section. Unlike those pages, the board writes, it has "the luxury of writing about the world as we would like it to be."

Good call! Won't change Dan Snyder's mind, but still.

[Image via AP]