Snyder's WWXX-FM License Challenged Over "Redskins"

George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf has challenged the license of Dan Snyder's WWXX-FM (ESPN 980) Washington over the broadcast of the name "Redskins." Snyder's Red Zebra Broadcasting owns seven radio stations.

According to Banzhaf, his challenge is based in part on the argument by former Federal Communications Commission officials and others that the term is a racial slur and that "the unnecessary and repeated on-air use of that derogatory racist word is contrary to current federal law and akin to broadcasting obscenity." Unlike indecency, which is allowed but must be confined to the overnight hours--10 p.m. to 6 a.m.--there is no safe harbor for obscenity. Banzhaf also argues that the term constitutes hate speech and cites studies showing racially derogatory words related to Indians can cause "real physical harm, including beatings, bullying and ostracism.”