You can read this and form your own opinion. So basically in a nut shell it's UND's fault because they wore the Fighting Sioux jersey's... UND fans I want to know what do you think of this.
You can read the whole post at this link.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races
It is within that 3rd definition that issues arise. Were the chants insensitive? Yes. Were they intended to insult or put down an entire race of people? No. I believe it says something about our society how we perceive these chants. The chants deemed most racist were those about “Smallpox Blankets” which was done once over that weekend (I am not trying to justify it). I believe more problems have come about from those not in the hockey world trying to understand what happened.
Students are rowdy, students want to be tip-toeing the line, and students want to do as much damage as they can to an opposing team from their seats. Were the chants filled with racial undertones? Yes. However, they were not done as a whole race (white people) chanting them at another race (Native Americans). They were a bunch of students chanting at a team because of their mascot/nickname. Some people have taken the stand that if North Dakota had not recently re-adopted the nickname that the chants would then have not happened. Some say that any reference to genocide is wrong and well over the line.
I thought I would include this blog post because it generated a bit of discussion on twitter earlier this week, not entirely the same thing and it's written much better by
our friend Runnin' with the Dogs who doesn't appear to be the fan of the Fighting Sioux nickname either.
UND’s mascot and nickname are dehumanizing and desensitizing. tUMD students demonstrated that a week and a half ago. How can someone stand behind a nickname that leads to chants like the ones the students did? Or shirts like this? Or this one, done by UND students? Or the attitudes spelled out here? Or the people who “honor” the nickname by swearing, vomiting in their seats, fighting, making lewd gestures, etc while wearing the Sioux jersey? (Every fan base has people who do this. But not every fan base is appropriating the image and name of Native Americans and claiming to honor them while behaving in this fashion.)
The nickname and mascot are an embarrassment. The chants are an embarrassment. The history behind the chants is an embarrassment. It’s time for the nickname to go. Getting rid of the nickname won’t change the mind of any student, fan, athlete or administrator who might have been motivated to chant or support the nickname or make one of those t-shirts by actual, active racism, but it will at least stop the people who simply aren’t thinking, who aren’t looking beyond the nickname and mascot to the humans they are based on. (Because it shouldn’t be necessary, humans [Seminole, Dakota, Illini, Irish, Dutch, etc] should not be mascots!)
