Virginia Beach, Va. - There isn’t much to cheer about in Redskins Nation at this point. The team is just 1-5 so far this season. But the team’s problems aren’t just on the field.
Four petitions have now been filed with the Federal Communications Commission asking that broadcasters who use the word “Redskins” be fined because it “constitutes profanity.”
Redskins owner Dan Snyder is on the offense in the PR game. He had the President of the Navajo Nation sit next to him at last Sunday’s game.
Activists may be wound up about the name but most fans we spoke to in Virginia Beach aren’t.
“All these fans have been Redskins fans all this time, why change it?” says Chelsea Baer.
“They’ll be arguing forever but it’s going to stay because people want it,” says Redskins fan Virginia Byler.
Polls have consistently shown a wide majority of Virginians support keeping the Redskins name, but some think there might be room for compromise.
“Drop the Redskins name, but keep the logo. And I thought, well, okay that would be a compromise,” says Roger Myles.
Michelle Holland owns hundreds of dollars’ worth of merchandise with Redskins logos. An avid fan, she is also ¼ Cherokee Indian. She thinks the Redskins should donate money from merchandise sales directly to Indian tribes.
“I personally think if they just provide restitution, like a college fund or something, where on an annual basis, that individual tribe knows that they have those resources to send their kids to school that wouldn’t otherwise go to school, I believe it would be a win-win situation for everybody,” Holland says.
In September, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told reporters, “We’ll be looking at that petition, we will be dealing with that issue on the merits and we’ll be responding accordingly.”
In June, the franchise had its trademark revoked on the grounds that it was “disparaging to Native Americans.”
