racist mascot dehumanizes - and now it's gone!
thank god! it only took about - oh, i don't know - 18 years(!) of struggle and opposition by many, but my old school is FINALLY getting rid of its racist mascot, mr. "chief" illiniwek!
apparently, even now, there's some big-shot "progressive" blogger who thinks native americans should not have been offended by "the chief" because it was honoring them (how many times have i heard that crappy conservative argument?!) - and the topic is newly controversial. well, i wish i were surprised that progressives are sometimes terribly non-progressive. and i wish this guy would watch in whose honor? already. but, at any rate,
HOORAY!
later edit: to celebrate, my friend janna has recreated a sign that my former co-worker and housemate robin and i came up with together for a protest in '98 (i believe). enjoy [btw, it's a reference to butt-warmers & the answer's "no" :D]:
later later edit: brooke has a great post about this, too.
3 comentarii:
Nice post! Thanks.
STOP (Students Transforming Oppression and Privilege) organized a splendid public forum a couple of weeks ago and that did it. You can watch the forum here: http://iresist.org/
awesome. thanks for the link, i'll link it up so it's easier to click:
IRESIST
great article by suzan shown harjo, who also wrote "Chief Offenders" a while ago:
"Illiniwek fans missed the Indians for the 'Chief'"
and some recent features on urbana champaign indymedia:
"Test your Chief Illiniwek IQ"
"Statement from the University of Illinois Native American House on 'chief illiniwek'"
"The First Funeral for the Chief? A Recap of February 1"
"Chief Illiniwek appears in a retrospective on racism on the Colbert Report, 2/1/2007"
"“chief illiniwek”: Only a Dancing Turkey or Federal Criminal?"
"Sioux Request Return of Lakota Regalia, Peoria Request Use of "chief illiniwek" Mascot to Cease"
"Pro-Chief Students Issue Call for Racism and Violence against American Indians at University of Illinois"
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