There have been many issues with school mascots across the United States, from high school to college to the professional lever. The example in class of the Illinois Fighting Illini is definitely not the easiest one to debate. If I had to pick one side to defend, it would be difficult to do. My feelings on the issue fall somewhat in between. I feel that the school named themselves after the Illini, who from the movie, seem to be portrayed as a very brave and honorable people who were killed off by another tribe of the area. To me, naming a school mascot after them is a tribute to their courage and bravery. However, I do not totally agree with "the Chief" doing everything he did, I understand that people, students, fans, and alumni may see him as a huge part of the school and its history. But, when what the mascot is doing at games gets to be too much and too far from what the Illini would actually do or have done, I can understand where Charlene was getting offended. The dances being simply for show and entertainment sounds like a great idea, but could very easily be demeaning to people. In this case they were. It is a very slippery slope when a school is named after a group of people because they do have to account for how those people would want to be portrayed and represented; is it respectful to them? is it an accurate portrayal? are just some questions that must be addressed. As, we discussed today, the media never talks about the Seminole being offended by the fans or students of Florida State. This could be because the school has a very healthy relationship with the Seminole and they account for what they think and how they feel when they do things at school or games.
Being an athlete for so many years of my life I have never felt like any team named the Apache's, Warriors, Braves, Indians, or any other names have ever intentionally tried to offend or disrespect they mascot or people affiliated with their mascot. As they are the representation, most athletes have always taken pride in representing what school they are and their mascot. I feel like some of the people in the world who are upset by actions of students and teams may take some of the actions out of context and make them much larger issues then they are meant to be. If they do have issues with them, demanding a school change as mascot and its history seems to be a little extreme to me. A better solution might be to meet with the school and explain the feelings you have and what you would like to see done differently. If this is done and the school and students were to continue to show disrespect, I can easily understand more extreme actions.
Of course I have no exact knowledge of what the Illini did or were like, but from what I was able to get from the movie in class, the above would be a simple summary of my feelings on certain mascots, and how they are portrayed and received by other people.
CRAIG WILDER
004739733
KIN 332I
10/28/2008
1 comment:
I agree this topic was a very difficult one to debate. I have trouble understanding how “the chief’s” dance really offends the Native American people in that area because I don’t know their rituals, customs and values that their religion has. The best thing I tried to do to understand it was to visualize a team using Jesus as a mascot and that during half-time they show Jesus on a cross, only he wasn’t on it arms out and feet crossed but instead they had him straddling the cross and riding it like a horse. If a school did do that I as well as many other people would be outraged. If they didn’t have that half-time show/ceremony I think I would be fine with a school wanting to have Jesus as a mascot. My point is, as long as they had not had “the chief” perform an incorrect religious dance of the Illini people then having a mascot, as pride of the tribe, should be appreciated. The mascot would also have to be portrayed correctly because if they had my Jesus mascot in swim shorts and a Mohawk, again people would be outraged.
Alexander Cartagena
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