So the University of North Dakota has been forced by both the NCAA and a new North Dakota state law to change the school's logo, the "Fighting Sioux." Critics have found the moniker to be demeaning and racist.
OK, maybe the logo and name are politically incorrect. I can understand that. But what about other sports teams? Notre Dame gets by with its nickname, the "Fighting Irish," represented by a leprechaun-type character with fists raised in a menacing stance. Isn't that insulting to people of Irish lineage? And the Florida State Seminoles keep tooling right along with their logo featuring a Native American complete with war paint. Isn't that stereotypically racist?
To me, the real offenders are the professional sports teams who seem to be getting free passes at ridiculing the American Indian culture. The Cleveland Indians baseball team blatantly displays a warrior caricature with rodent-sized teeth and a jeering smile.
Most egregious to is the name of the Washington, D.C., pro football team--the Washington Redskins! Would society tolerate a sports team based on other skin colors? The Blackskins? The Yellowskins? The Whiteskins?
I think UND is being wrongfully singled out for punishment here, and I can't understand why. I'm not a UND alumnus; I've never stepped foot on their campus. I do recall, however, that a Native American helped design their current logo in the early 1930s and that one area tribe still finds it acceptable.
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The Fighting Sioux emblem to me radiates nobility and proud tradition, not mockery of the Indian culture so obvious in the above-mentioned examples.
Dean Bishop
Austin
