giving up the chief

i did my undergrad work at the university of illinois...was an athlete there, and thus developed an affinity for the school symbol/mascot...chief illiniwek. while growing up and while at illinois i was a supporter of retaining the chief...i used the usual arguments: it is meant to be an honor, he isn't a mascot, there are indian tribes and groups that support his continuance...the usual bullshit, "its not like we're the redskins or have chief wahoo prancing around". over time my objection to getting rid of the chief began to stem more from the kids i saw protesting...those that i saw as white suburban kids looking for a cause to make them feel like their parents in the 70s because protesting is hip. of course if any other racial minority group would have been involved, i would have been appalled (such as the pekin high school chinks from good old pekin, illinois...most racist town in america...they finally changed in the late 90s).

once i came to new mexico, i fully embraced what i like to call...my crackerness. i acknowledged i was a white male, therefore privileged in this country, especially given my upbringing. i finally understood what it meant to be a white male in america, that there are things that i just have no place in the argument because i cannot possibly understand. i understood that the shit that was done "as an honor"...some of which i participated in despite what i recognize now as its degrading racial undertones...really is just some white kids playing dress up and mocking sacred traditions.

in the process, i have flipped my views on chief illiniwek (who represents a school with barely 1% indian enrollment)...i still feel that, if approached correctly, with input from indian tribes (preferably descendents of the illiniwek) it could be used as a valuable educational tool...but even then would not have a place in a halftime celebration. i also think that having the chief for this long, in the long run, may prove to bring some good out of it since without the chief, very few of those same white suburban kids would have a clue that indians are still relevant today.

the ncaa recently had a chance to put their foot down and put an end to this once and for all...of course they only half-assed it and went half way...then retracting some of it. still, their ruling gave illinois an out that would have allowed them to "save face" (an odd term considering the circumstances) with their alumni that strongly support retaining chief illiniwek. they dropped the ball.