nin137

Goodbye Noble Indian

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/basketball/ncaa/02/16/illinois.chief.ap/index.html
what a sad, sad day it is. as i watched the sportscenter
minute on espn.com i noticed the horrendous news that chief
illinwek was retiring his 81 year old run as the warrior
chief mascot of illinois.
well i guess the indians finally one a fight.
oh no i didn't! yes i did!
but seriously, out of the pervasive alcoholism, spousal
abuse, engendering gambling habits in the general public,
the one thing that's really bringing down the native
american community is a mascot which harkens back to their
historical background?
come the fuck on.
which of course leads us to the bigger picture of mascots
being offensive to native americans. i'm gonnna just shoot
off a couple off the top of my head. washington redskins,
cleveland indians, chicago blackhawks, dallas cowboys...oh
wait that last one doesn't fit.
which of course leads me to the favorite argument of every
indignant person who rolls his eyes at what he views as a
bunch of sissy sally pants people who get offended if you
blow your nose in their general direction.
but dem cowboys ain't be gettin' upset about demselve's
bein' mascots.
very well put i must admit. neither do wolverines. i don't
see michigan getting lobbied by wolverines, and trust me
when i tell you, dem bitches get mean.
titans don't complain to tennessee, rams don't complain to
st. louis, and yankees keep their shit tight up in new
york...so why are the natives freakin' out?
well i think first and foremost that native americans have
EVERY right to be pissed off at having a stereotypical image
of themselves being used and touted. the whole argument
about how, "it's not hurting you" or the even more demeaning
one of, "you should feel honored" are completely irrelevant
in this case.
those arguments are ridiculous because they overlook one
fundamental aspect weighing in on this entire debate and in
my opinion the central issue to which native americans take
umbrage to.
namely that as a class of people for whom this is personal
(and i believe we can all assume that a person of native
american decent is a bit uncomfortable to see chief illinwek
doing a tomahoke dance) is completely left out of the
decision process. they have no say WHATSOEVER! that's what
the real travesty here is.
and you know what? that class of people whom this affects
has said that they are offended by the representation. so
it doesn't matter what you may think in terms of them taking
this way too seriously, or to lighten up, or to feel honored
that their heritage represents a school. the bottom line is
that the very people it is a portrayal of don't want it to
be so. end of story!
how is this even an issue? how can we even have indians as
mascots if native americans are against it? i mean are we
all so fucking retarded to not see the very simple logic
behind the above statement?
the issue isn't whether or not a stereotype or a heritage
symbol can ever be used as a mascot (i mean look at the
dallas cowboys or the boston patriots), but whether or not
the specific class of people of whom it is a representation
of objects to it.
self-proclaimed cowboys take no issue with dallas and more
power to them. bulls just chew their cod and don't worry
themselves with chicago, and all the power to them as well.
native americans don't like being used as a mascot so we
have to honor that request.
on a side note this doesn't apply to arguments by the
anti-defamation league. this argument is premised on the
whole fact that the people taking umbrage to the
representation have privity to do so. in other words,
uptight, liberal, weezer look a like punks at the aclu need
to come up with something better.
not only is it demeaning to assume the 'responsibility' of
deciding how a class of people wish to be perceived, but the
issue of defamation is ludicrous from the outset.
the whole point behidn chosing a mascot is that you REVERE
that mascot. taht you want the greatest qualities of it to
be imbued and personified by your team. that's teh reason
why you don't see the st. louis 'orthodox jews' or the san
francisco 'fundamental islamists'.
oh no i didn't!
yes i did again!