Would you settle for the Green Bay Packers (Swiss)Cheeseheads?
Posted on 03/16/2002 4:07:20 AM PST by JohnHuang2
DENVER (AP) - The idea started among some University of Northern Colorado students as a satirical commentary on a local high school's American Indian mascot.
The students named their intramural basketball team, made up of American Indians, Hispanics and whites, ``The Fighting Whities.'' They printed up jerseys saying ``Every thang's going to be all white,'' with a caricature of a middle-aged white man.
``The Fighting Whities,'' however, have taken on a life of their own.
More than 1,600 e-mails have flooded into the university in Greeley, north of Denver. Some say it's about time that a white person is made a mascot for a sport team. Others complain the idea as perpetuating yet another racial stereotype.
``It's obvious some of the people are taking it the way it's not supposed to be taken,'' said team member Jeff VanIwarden.
Team members have gotten phone calls from around the country and invitations to appear on television. They were mentioned by Jay Leno on the Tonight Show on Tuesday. The American Indian Movement has weighed in supporting the name.
The team chose the name after it couldn't persuade nearby Eaton High School to abandon its nickname, the Fightin' Reds, and the American Indian caricature on the team logo. The students say the logo is offensive.
The school superintendent denies the logo is derogatory and called the group's criticism insulting.
Some e-mails said the mascot image should be even more derogatory than a middle-aged white man with a tie.
``Some people online were saying that the mascot should be ... a fat guy with buckteeth kissing his sister,'' said Tom Crebbs of Oakland, Calif., who heard about the idea and started his own Web site selling spin-off shirts, hats and mugs.
Others, like Michael Gonsalves of New York, disagreed: ``If you are fighting against a perceived injustice, is the proper recourse to go out and do the very same thing?''
With all the publicity, the team plans on printing new T-shirts. VanIwarden said they will have a message condemning racial stereotypes to dissuade people from making light of the shirt.
On the Net:
The University of Northern Colorado: http://www.unco.edu
The American Indian Movement: http://www.aimovement.org
Then the Indians will get mad that they are being ignored and demand that they be made mascots again. BTW, it must be only a small group of activists who get upset over Indians being mascots. I've never met any Indians who really care about this issue. Come to think of it, I've never met any Indians who call themselves "Native Americans." They either refer to themselves by their tribe or call themselves....Indians.
I happen to be BOTH, and I can tell you that I am proud of both lines of ancestry; not only are they both noble, but the BOTH came from "common ancestors" -- Adam and Eve. And who (whom?) but you, is concerned with which direction they came from?
How can art ever measure up to life?
+=<)B^)
Would you settle for the Green Bay Packers (Swiss)Cheeseheads?
I am very good friends with several members of an Apache tribe that my company leased part of their land for overflight and weapons tests.
They prefer to be called by the name of their tribe or “Indian” if not specific.
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