However, I also empathized with the students, alumni, and fans of The University of Illinois. I kept considering how I would feel if all of a sudden a group of Greeks started marching against our use of the mascot Sparty. I feel a strong connection to Sparty and am proud that he represents my school. Sporting events would just not be the same without him. I would be angry too if people were making us get rid of him. I understand why Chief Illiniwek was offensive but I wondered if maybe a compromise could have been made. I feel like Native Americans could have used the fan base and the respect that the fans had for Chief Illiniwek to spread awareness about Native Americans in general. I think a good compromise would have been to collect a board of Native Americans from the Illiniwek tribe who could help the university to make their mascot more culturally accurate. He could also make appearances and talk about cultural sensitivity, American Indian issues, and spread awareness. The school does not mean to mock Native Americans but rather they respect their mascot very much. It is the ignorance and unawareness that makes the mascot so offensive. I feel that if Native Americans helped to make the mascot more authentic, the fans and the Native Americans could have helped one another. Maybe this is too optimistic or unrealistic but I just was able to understand the feelings of both sides and wanted to look for a compromise.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Chief Illiniwek
After watching the video on Chief Illiniwek I had a lot to think about. On one hand I completely empathized with the Native Americans. The chief was supposed to represent a certain Indian tribe and instead was a mix of different tribes and of elements not relating to Native Americans at all. I can only imagine what it would feel like to see your culture mocked publicly like that. The thing that I kept considering as I watched in order to empathize was being in another country and going to an event where they do a performance mocking Americans as a bunch of fat, selfish, cowboys running around. I would have found that very offensive and I'm sure that is how many Native Americans felt when they watched the performance of Chief Illiniwek.
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Daryl, I am glad that someone else can see both sides of this argument. I'm not sure, other people might understand, but yours is the first i found. When i watched the video, i felt stronger about the position of the students and the university. I don't want to come off as inconsiderate or rude, but i firmly believe that The University of Illinois should not have to change their mascot or half time performances. I didn't see anything on the tape that seemed racist or derogatory. This issue made me question where we should draw the line when it comes to racial sensitivity. When a Greek man whose ancestors were Spartans goes to the board of MSU and says that the Spartan mascot is disrespectful and poorly portrays my people, are we supposed to change? I hope not. Nice post.
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