WDCG 105.1 General Manager Dick Harlow, who along with Dumas apologized on the air Wednesday, said the three-day suspension was without pay. "We thought that was appropriate," he said.

That didn't wash with about 100 people -- many representing North Carolina's American Indians -- who gathered at a news conference at Raleigh's state Capitol on a warm Wednesday afternoon. Indian leaders called for the firing of Dumas and his crew for jokes they made about Lumbee Indians during an April 1 broadcast.

Dumas and his crew made the jokes to an intern, about her coming wedding to a Lumbee. Dumas said Indians were "lazy." As proof, he mentioned that he has never had an American Indian at his house to perform hired work. His two co-hosts made jokes and comments as well.

"Nothing, no less than their termination, can satisfy the blood of our warriors that was spilled on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan," said Leary Chavis of the Lumbee Warriors Association at the news conference. A line of American Indian military veterans bearing flags stood behind him.

Candace Harke, president of the Native American Law Students' Association at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the issue goes deeper than just one incident.

"The 15-minute diatribe that denigrated my people was not the first, but rather the latest, in a long series of broadcasts filled with racism, sexism, homophobia and full-blown ignorance," said Harke, a Lumbee from Fayette-ville.

She went on to hold Clear Channel Communications, which owns G-105, accountable for the content of the "Showgram," which is the No. 1 morning-drive show among all listeners over age 12 in the Raleigh-Durham area.

"Our rich culture is not cheap fodder for anyone's cheap-shot jock humor," she said. "Make no mistake about it -- G-105 and Clear Channel's failure to respond would amount to corporate sponsorship of racism."

"That's right!" someone in the crowd yelled.

The event was hosted by the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs executive director, Gregory Richardson, who read a statement from commission Chairman Paul Brooks: "As leaders of the North Carolina tribes, we cannot tolerate divisive and inflammatory statements over the airwaves."

Lumbee Tribal Chairman Jimmy Goins and other speakers called on all tribes to boycott Clear Channel Communications and their sponsors if the show's hosts are not fired.

The morning show was hosted by Randi West on Wednesday. At the beginning of the program, both Dumas and Harlow read on-air apologies.

"We intended for the comments to be humorous," Dumas said. "But we failed at that. We sincerely apologize to each of our listeners who were offended."

Harlow also posted an apology on WDCG's Web site Friday.

State Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Pembroke Democrat who spoke at Wednesday's rally and news conference, called the suspension and apologies "a sham."

"Obviously the owners and the management want this to go away," said Sutton, who is a Lumbee. "They want the Indians to go away."

Richardson said that Clear Channel had invited Indian leaders to discuss the issue this week. Richardson told the crowd that invitation would be accepted, and details were pending.

This isn't the first time Dumas has raised hackles with on-air comments. He was suspended in 2003 for encouraging motorists to harass bicyclists.

In 2004, he referred to "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino of High Point as being "ghetto" and "low-class," which led to an online petition calling for his ouster.