Tonight is the final appearance of the some say 'beloved' mascot at the University of Illinois. The dance happy Chief Illiniwek is being retired partially as response to the money-forfeited ability to host NCAA Tournament events on campus. This hurt the recruiting for the school as well as offended many who wanted to see this mascot retired decades, or as recently as last month, ago. I don't necessarily see it as a problem at all. Honestly, if someone is going to have a problem with a Native American mascot, how are they not going after the NCAA to tell schools like Valparaiso and Holy Cross to change their mascot to something other than "Crusaders". I mean I've heard the discussions for both sides and I think that we're showing respect to our understandings of how Christians became what they are because of these holy wars for their religion. I respect what these men fought for so we could have open beliefs, not beliefs that are forced on us. I'm much happier with the freedom of beliefs than I would be if I was having to live under the auspices of the Church of England and forced to believe in something that I'd rather fight against.
Sorry, I got on a rant there, but that's my thoughts on why I think the whole matter is absurd and should be left alone. If the Native American nations had an issue with it, they could have spoken up and helped the universities find some options for new mascots that could work or ways to make the current mascot seem more respectful of what the tribe would consider a proper rendering of what they meant to the state or community in which the school is a part of.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment