Report Bolsters Attack on FCC Licenses Over “Redskins”

WASHINGTON - Nov. 18, 2014 - PRLog -- WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 18, 2014):  The already-filed legal petitions opposing the license renewals of two TV stations and one  radio station for repeatedly and unnecessarily using the "racial slur" "Redskins" on the air will get a huge boost from a report being released this morning showing that American Indian children suffer severe violence at the hands of non-Indian children and even adults - a central argument of the legal petitions which request a hearing to help determine how much of the violence can be attributed to the on-air use of the word.

        The report says these Indian children experience post-traumatic stress disorder at the same rate as veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and triple the rate of the general population.


        “Day in and day out . . . American Indian and Alaska Native children suffer exposure to violence at rates higher than any other race in the United States,” the report says. The result is “increased rates of altered neurological development, poor physical and mental health, poor school performance, substance abuse, and overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system,” the report concluded.

        Seven Native Americans has filed formal oppositions to the renewal of the broadcast licenses of three different stations, contending, among many other claims, that the repeated and unnecessary use of the “racial slur” “Redskins” causes and exacerbates violence against American Indian children and adults.

        “I can’t think of a more central issue to the renewal of a station’s license, and whether it is operating in the “public interest” as required by law, than whether the owner’s choice to use a racial slur hundreds of times during the day is a factor in kids being beaten up or otherwise bullied,” says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who is coordinating the legal acts.

        Since the law requires the FCC to hold a hearing on all disputed issues of material fact, it looks like the petitions, bolstered by this report, will finally force the agency to consider whether hate speech on the nation’s airwaves is contributing to violence.

        The 120-page report comes from the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence.  “American Indian and Alaska Native children represent the future and they face unprecedented challenges, including an unacceptable level of exposure to violence, which we know can have lasting and traumatic effects on body and mind,” Holder said in a statement. “We must understand these impacts well so we can pursue policies that bring meaningful change.”

        The legal petitions filed with the FCC contain an affidavit signed under oath by the  Indian challengers stating that: “ I have experienced and/or witnessed harm to myself and/or to other Native Americans which I believe was caused by the frequent repetitive use of the word ‘R*dskins’ on the air.”

        Thus, notes Banzhaf, these personal sworn affirmations, as well as the more than 100 research reports also cited by the petitioners, will be greatly strengthened by this new report.

        The legal petitions also contend that the R-word should no more be used on the air than the N-word or other racial slurs, that racial slurs constitute “profanity” which by law cannot be broadcast during prime time, that such racial slurs constitute “fighting words” which the Supreme Court has held are not entitled to protection under the First Amendment, and that their repeated and unnecessary use at radio and television stations creates a “hostile work environment” for employees sensitive to racial slurs.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law
George Washington University Law School,
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
Fellow, World Technology Network,
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2000 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052, USA
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/ @profbanzhaf