Loading ...CONTRIBUTED BY ALEX PAULSON
Before I started writing this letter, I had difficulty deciding how to discuss its contents without pointing any fingers. The topic this letter discusses isn’t necessarily any fault of an individual but is a failing of our campus community and the American people as a whole. I believe, as an institution of higher learning we should be able to discuss these topics and not confuse conflict with discussion.
UPAC is an absolutely fabulous organization that brings dynamic and entertaining events to our campus. UPAC continually raises the quality of student life on this campus with their programming. However, the promotion of the Blackhawks vs. Wild game this past week has been making me wince every time I walk through Kryzsko.
I find this especially appalling within the context of the larger national conversation surrounding the use of Native Americans as mascots. Additionally, these actions speak to a larger trend of “insensitivity to difference” on our campus.
Some might ask where we draw the line. I would say at human decency. The most common mascots in the United States are animals and Native Americans (with a capital “N”). The few teams represented by humans who are not Native American tend to be represented by symbols like the Saints or the Cowboys.
Though some teams, like the Fighting Irish, are Depictions by and for the dominant society. And though yes the Irish did suffer, there are piles of scholarship on when and how the Irish became members of the dominant society in American culture. If that is how they would like to be recognized, that is their prerogative. Native American mascots are depictions of a marginalized people made for the dominant society. Essentially, Native American mascots further oppress the oppressed and dominant society cannot oppress itself.
There have been multiple protests where the people being depicted are explicitly saying that these mascots DO NOT honor or represent them. One occurred in the Cities this past November and was over 6,000 strong. You think people would make the connection between the mascots of these sports teams and the racist system that allow them to exist. I probably lost most of my readers there, but I’m going to be straight up and call it as I see it.
Honestly, I believe you shouldn’t need to check something with your lawyers just to calm the moral reaction of your gut. In the case of the Washington R&@$#!%s and their legal action against a coalition of Native American rights groups (*groups founded by Native Americans), legal doesn’t mean right. We all know of instances where people “legally” get away with terrible and morally questionable actions.
An exercise I find helpful is to personalize the situation a little. I would be offended if a privately owned hockey team called themselves the Faggots or even the Castros with a character of a stereotyped gay man on a rainbow background and lisped a cheer every time they made a goal.
I normally advocate on the basis that I expect the same dignity for other groups as I would expect for myself. I don’t try to frame things, as how would it help me, but these actions make me beg the question. If this is how the university is willing to treat one marginalized and oppressed group, what protects me from an increase in the discrimination I face?
I am of often critiqued for being longwinded and hot-headed by mostly faculty, staff, and administration. However, if I were to water down my writing to five bullet points I would be compromising the subtlety of my beliefs and the complexity of these multifaceted and interconnected issues. Additionally, I don’t consider myself hot-headed, I consider myself to have a backbone and only act as an ally to the extent in which I wish people would advocate for my human rights. Again, I am using this occurrence as occasion to discuss larger cultural issues on our campus rather than put anyone on blast. I hope that these types of occurrences become less frequent in the future as a result of further education and understanding, rather than a homogenization of our campus population.
-Alexander C. Paulson
