Chiefly annoyed

I make it a point to stop in the campus bookstores often. You never know what you might find for a good price. A sale display of Chief Illiniwek stuff in all three of them really caught my eye, though, and really made me wonder where the priorities of some students are.

Many of you know the whole "Chief Illiniwek" debate and the story of how the former mascot, a Native chief, was discontinued. Well, I am not going to bore you with the history of the chief or the story behind his controversy. The main issue now is that the chief is gone, and judging from the responses of university administration, he is not coming back.

The debate over the chief has spurred a huge backlash on both sides and never the twain shall meet. On the one side you have the students who support the chief. These folks (and alumni!) have been actively trying to wear their chief gear, recruit freshmen to join them, and do whatever it takes to get the darn mascot back into the university. They see it as one of their traditions being taken away, and they argue about it on "legacy" grounds. On the other side are the anti-chief folks. These ones argue that having a dancing Native chief is racially and culturally insensitive and that any and all regalia with him on it is showing insensitivity.

For both sides, I have this to say, You both are completely right--and completely WRONG.

For those of you who are pro-Chief, I would like to remind you that the issue is OVER. The administration is not going to see all of you in your Illiniwek gear and think "Oh, let's reinstate the mascot!" They're not going to do that once their mind is made up, and knowing this administration, they're just as flexible as a suit of armor. Move on! What is the chief, anyway? He is a mascot. A mascot is a symbol for the school. No matter what the mascot is (or if we even have one), the school is still the same, with the same triumphs and the same problems. If you really want to take pride in a mascot, why not try and create a new one yourself? Use some of your creativity and your smarts to create a new mascot, one that you can take pride in just as much, if you really want another one. You're an Illini, so act like what the word means!

To the anti-Chief people who claim that he promotes racial insensitivity, I cannot claim to speak as a native American, nor can I say I know what it feels like. However, I see a much more effective course of action than just complaining about a bygone symbol. You want to fight racial injustice? Why not start by fighting some of the racial injustice that's been springing up in the past few years? Going to or hosting a "taco and tequila" party that has the guests dressed up like negative stereotypes of Latinos is racially insensitive (and screw you, OBO, for saying that it was a "celebration of other cultures" and comparing it to Dia de los Muertos!). Not speaking up or brushing it off when your campus newspaper publishes the Jyllands-Posten anti-Muslim cartoons is REALLY culturally insensitive. You want to see inaccurate/hatefilled depictions of cultures unlike your own, then look up those two instances. Dressing like a Latino stereotype or portraying all the Muslims as terrorists is nothing short of hateful. THAT is cultural insensitivity that you can actually do something about. If you want to be really culturally educated, then why not start educating yourself? Take a class or two (or three...or more...) about American minorities to learn about them. There's a lot you can choose from! Read up on race or class-based issues. Head over to the multicultural houses and drop in on one of their programs to get some hands-on experience in learning about different cultures. There's a Native American house if you want to learn more about Native issues today. Hell, support these programs (funding, publicizing, etc.) so other people can learn and not be racially intolerant!

There's so much more you can do (on both sides) than just siting around grousing about a bygone symbol. Stop reading my blog (for now), start learning, and REALLY make a difference with this university.