Hundreds of protesters took to the Minneapolis streets Thursday before the start of the NFL game between the Vikings and Redskins at U.S. Bank Stadium to blast the name and mascot of the Washington-based football team.

The demonstrators spoke out against the Washington franchise, decrying its Native American-derived moniker as racist and degrading. The protesters chanted: “We are not your mascot!”

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The mascot “dehumanizes our people,” Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan told the crowd. Flanagan is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe.

“Let me tell you, I wouldn’t talk to [Redskins ownwer] Dan Snyder — I would make him talk to my 6 1/2-year-old little girl, who would tell him how inappropriate and racist it is to have this Washington team name,” she said. “This racial slur that he profits off of is not right.”

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Min., also denounced the nickname.

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“It’s long past to change the name,” she said, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The Redskins name has been a subject of controversy for several years. Snyder has defended the nickname, saying it shows honor and respect to Native Americans.

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David Glass, the president of the National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media, said the name is an offensive racial slur. Glass is a member of the White Earth Nation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.