Redskins name deemed 'racial slur' at Smithsonian

Organizers say the Redskins did not respond to an invitation to participate, and no one stood up to defend the Redskins name when the audience was invited to participate.

There has been momentum toward changing names deemed offensive, although Snyder has been adamant about that he's not going to join the trend. On Tuesday, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray specifically avoided saying the name of franchise in his State of the District speech and instead referred to "our Washington football team."

In 2005, the NCAA announced it would ban the use of American Indian imagery and nicknames at postseason tournaments. Some schools have since been granted exceptions with the support of tribes, such as the Florida State Seminoles.

The latest to make the switch are the students at Cooperstown high school in upstate New York, who voted this week to ditch their "Redskins" nickname. The school, located in the hometown of "The Last of the Mohicans" author James Fenimore Cooper, is considering "Deerslayers," ''Hawkeyes" and "Pathfinders" as alternatives.

Suzan Shown Harjo, president of the Washington-based Morning Star Institute, an advocacy group, said there are some 900 troublesome nicknames and mascots across the country, down from a peak of more than 3,000 when "Little Red" was taken off the field in the early 1970s.

"We consider it racial profiling," former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell said. "I think more and more people are recognizing it."

The best chance to change Snyder's mind would likely be to hit him in the pocketbook by getting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to void the Redskins trademark. A group of American Indians made progress on that front during a 17-year court battle that came to a halt in 2009 because it was ruled that the plaintiffs waited too long to file their original case. There is now a new case filed by younger plaintiffs that is due for a hearing next month.

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