Saturday, March 03, 2012

Another perspective on the Fighting Sioux nickname

Here is a link to a blog post that one of my friends on twitter sent me. While I have always been a fan of the Fighting Sioux Nickname, I honestly I don't think that this kind of rhetoric is ever going to go away. Not if UND remains the Fighting Sioux nickname remains.
But tribal members support the mascot! So it's ok!
No. It isn't. Hitler was a white guy. Can I then deduce that all white men think it's ok to murder millions of people? And don't cite that stupid Sports Illustrated poll that says 90% of Indians support mascots. That thing has so many issues with sampling and validity it's not even funny. Yeah, a few tribal members might support the mascot. But it's a sad commentary on how invisible we are in society, because most of them cite the fact that they feel "proud" to be "recognized" and "remembered". If the only way Native peoples are viewed in the US are as racist stereotypical mascots, (or in movies, tv, and advertising) is it better to be invisible, or seen as a stereotype? [Native Appropriations]

This is almost as bad as Native American activist Russell Means saying that Indians that support the Fighting Sioux nickname are stupid, words he once uttered at a protest in front the REA before construction was finished.

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