A true leader would rename the Washington R*dskins right away
A leader has to be able to do hard things, including, perhaps especially, leading his or her organization through difficult changes. Indeed, many leadership scholars regard that as the key difference between the science of managing and the art of leading. Lots of people may be able to manage an organization competently in pursuit of well-established goals. Fewer can lead an organization when hard changes need to be made. And in the case of Daniel Snyder, the owner of a certain football team whose home base is Washington, DC, one of those hard changes should be to get on with it and change his team’s name.
Snyder has faced a groundswell of criticism over his team’s continued use of the “R*dskins” moniker. There have been vows to boycott the team and its paraphernalia. A growing list of media outlets have even vowed no longer to use the team’s current name in their coverage of the team. There’s even a Wikipedia page detailing the ethical debate over what many take to be an offensive, even racist name.
And if Snyder is going to change the team’s name (something he’s given no indication he is inclined to do), it needn’t be just because he’s worried about offending people. Two professors from Emory University have argued that there’s a good business argument for changing the team’s name. In particular, their analysis suggests that the name is bad for brand equity. “Elementary principles of brand management,” they state, “suggest dropping the team name.”
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has even entered the fray by canceling the team’s trademark registration. The PTO has rules, it seems, against trademarking racial slurs. This doesn’t mean that the team has to change its name, but it surely helps to devalue the brand and promises to reduce income from merchandising.
The whole sorry mess has the feeling of inevitability about it. The name can’t stay forever. The tide of history—and sound ethical reasoning—is against Snyder on this one. Snyder is an employer, most of whose employees are members of a historically-disadvantaged group. It is unseemly at best to resist so adamantly the pleas of members of another historically-disadvantaged group that he stop making money from a brand that adds insult to injury.
It is time for Daniel Snyder to act like a leader, to do the hard thing—the honourable thing—and change that name.
The Business Ethics Blog 
Is it not also strong to resist the cries from the weak and vocal minorities? What happened to having pride in your product?
If we are still a free society then the owner is free to keep the name…unless of course you can produce quantifiable proof that the name Redskins is directly and negatively affecting someone’s pursuit of life, liberty or happiness I believe your opinion may reflect your feelings but not the majority.
Of course he’s *free* to do so. But he shouldn’t. His “brand” is a racial slur.
I’m not worried about reflecting the majority. There are other ways for someone’s behaviour to be wrong than to quantifiably affect “pursuit of life, liberty or happiness.”