Why do schools have to give up their Indian name mascots but not ones like Trojans?

[Odin]

Natives are going overboard at a nearby university, the University of North Dakota, who are called the "Fighting Souix." They say that the fighting part of the name reinforces stereotypes of plains natives as bloodthirsty warriors. They say the name should be Dakota, not Souix, because Souix was what the French called them and that they should be called by what they call themselves. Finally, they make a fit because the fans of the opponents say the rhyme "Souix Suck!" This is rediculous. I don't complain about the name "Viking", I wish the natives would take a chill pill.

[SlowwHand]

Awwwww, just grant them rights to run a bingo hall; they'll be fine.

[Sikander]

While there are some Indians who care a lot about this, the vast majority do not. I went to Broken Bow Oklahoma for a family reunion a few years back. It's an interesting town, because though you can nominally break the population down into more or less Indians, Blacks and Whites, everyone looks like they they are part Indian, and they of course are. The local High School's name for their sports teams? The Broken Bow Savages.

The bottom line is that most of these names are not inherently insulting. One has to be taught to be insulted by them. But there is another way to triumph over a less than stellar label, and that is to redefine it, take ownership of it. IMO it is much more preferable to take symbols from those who abuse them and make them your own, rather than surrendering those symbols to Nazis, Klansmen and the like. Fvck them, they don't deserve to live on through our symbols.

[H Tower]

Originally posted by Felch X
If the Illini are all dead (after having been exterminated by their fellow Indians) who is going to be offended?

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


Other Indians. If the Fighting Whiteys used Klansman and Nazi stormtroopers as their school mascotts, I'd bet white folks would be more upset than amused.

So I should be offended by the name fighting irish even though I'm of german descent?

[SlowwHand]

H Tower. That doesn't even make sense to me.

I agree with losing the Fighting Irish tag.
Drunken Irish is much better.

[H Tower]

he was talking about other indian tribes being mad about University of Illinois using the name Fighting Illini. Why do the Souix care?

[Andemagne]

Re: Why do schools have to give up their Indian name mascots but not ones like Trojan

because Trojans sounds cool.
there is one football(handmelon, not soccer) team named Trojans even here in Finland.

[Odin]

Re: Re: Why do schools have to give up their Indian name mascots but not ones like Trojan

Originally posted by Andemagne
because Trojans sounds cool.
there is one football(handmelon, not soccer) team named Trojans even here in Finland.

My High School basketball is the Spartans. A few wins ago we played the Barnsville Trojans. We mocked them by using info of the Trojan war. (The spartans are the ones who built the Trojan Horse.)

[HolyWarrior]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


And he dances around like a goon dressed up like a Souix, not an Illini (not that we know how the Illini looked, since the Pottowattami wiped them out at Starved Rock two centuries before whites began settling the area). Yeah, such respect. When the people you charicature tell you you are being insulting, take their word on it instead of telling them that you're being "respectful."

Typical liberal--*****ing about the mascot of Illinois while he ignores that of his OWN state, the Florida Seminoles and their idiotic 'tomahawk chop'

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by HolyWarrior


Typical liberal--*****ing about the mascot of Illinois while he ignores that of his OWN state, the Florida Seminoles and their idiotic 'tomahawk chop'

Typical conservative--trying to destract from the point by bringing up something that che doesn't necessarily support, either. Can you say, straw man?

Notice how che's saying that was in response to another poster who brought up the Illini specifically as an instance...

[H Tower]

Originally posted by HolyWarrior


Typical liberal--*****ing about the mascot of Illinois while he ignores that of his OWN state, the Florida Seminoles and their idiotic 'tomahawk chop'

actually che is from Illinois orginally so he just might have some feelings about what goes on in illinois

[chequita guevara]

Personally, I think names like the Illini and Seminoles aren't inherently bad. On the other hand, Braves, Redskins, Chiefs, etc., are derrogatory names for Indians, and I can completely understand Indians not wanting us to use them. We say it's a symbol of our respect, but they remember when white folks said those things to them out of disrespect. What it comes down to, however, is what people want to be called and whether or not they have a say in their own image. Either you respect people's rights or you're an *******.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by H Tower
So I should be offended by the name fighting irish even though I'm of german descent?

Maybe if people's images of Germans was based on what people thought of Irish, yeah. As I said, you have a mascot who is supposedly a woodland Indian dressed as a plaines Souix (among others). Most white folks don't know Mohawk from Cherokee from Geronimo. If there was genuine respect intended on the part of U of I, they'd have done a modicum of research to try and find out how an Illini might have looked.

[Dis]

How are Braves offensive?

Is bravery that bad?

I agree about Redskins.

[SlowwHand]

Why are Braves and Chiefs derogatory?
Were/are they wusses and peons?