Will The Redskins Change Their Name? FCC Might Ban NFL Team's Moniker

The Federal Communications Commission might ban the team name of the National Football League Washington Redskins, Reuters reported Tuesday. The moniker has been a controversial topic for Native Americans for years; the term is widely considered a racial slur.

The FCC reportedly received the petition from legal activist John Banzhaf III, who requested that that regulators refuse to renew the broadcasting license of local radio station WWXX-FM as punishment for using the term “Redskins.” Benzhaf said the term is racist, derogatory, profane and hateful, making its use "akin to broadcasting obscenity," Reuters wrote.

"We'll be looking at that petition, we will be dealing with that issue on the merits and we'll be responding accordingly," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told reporters, according to the news site.

"There are a lot of names and descriptions that were used over time that are inappropriate today. And I think the name that is attributed to the Washington football club is one of those," Wheeler added.

The “Comedy Central” show “South Park” kicked off its 18th season by having one of its characters create a company called the “Washington Redskins.” Cartman, who started the company, claims the name cannot be changed, “because it’s like super-hard.”

On a recent episode of the “Daily Show,” Jon Stewart put Native Americans against Redskins fans. “Daily Show” correspondent Jason Jones asked both sides to express their feelings about the NFL team's contentious mascot, then had them debate face-to-face, E! News wrote.

"It's a name that impairs, disables and disenfranchises our population," said one participant in the "Daily Show" debate. "The most popular mascots in our nation are animals and Indians....We're not mascots.”

Redskins fans defended their team. "This is our culture," one said. "This is who we are."

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