A lobbyist, Jack Abramofff, who ripped off Indian tribes to bribe members of Congress and earned tens of millions doing so, is indicted, and many legislators may face prosecution as well. The Prime Minister of Israel suffers a stroke and is near death. Hundreds die in suicide bombings in Iraq. 12 miners are killed when their poorly inspected mine explodes. Iran is near completion on a nuclear device. And George Will is gravely concerned about the NCAA, “who is going to police cultural sensitivity, as it understands that. Hence the decision to declare Chief Illiniwek [at the University of Illinois] hostile and abusive to Native Americans.”
He is vexed because some “overly sensitive people” are offended by Indian mascots at sports events. He approves of “The NCAA allowing Florida State University and the University of Utah to continue calling their teams Seminoles and Utes, respectively, because those two tribes approve of the tradition.”
But the tradition in Illinois, which even has included the blessing of the Sioux Tribe, is under attack by what Will terms, “campus speech codes —academic liberalism’s preferred instrument of social improvement.” Grievance groups have multiplied and are demanding redress for past wrongs, which Will thinks is highly ridiculous. “NCAA’s censors say: The Chief must go, as must the university’s logo of a Native American in feathered headdress. Otherwise the NCAA will not allow the university to host any postseason tournaments or events.”
Yet imagine if the Native Americans had won and named their teams “The Catholic Priests” and did dances around a crucifix at half-time? What if the Sioux Indians put yarmulkes on their heads and stuffed dollars in their jackets in a hilarious satire on Jack Abramoff and called themselves the “Greedy Jews”? Will thinks we are all way too sensitive: “When, in the multiplication of entitlements, did we produce an entitlement for everyone to go through life without being annoyed by anything, even a team’s nickname?” he asks.
The real target of Will is the idea that liberalism is anything more substantial than just a fashion, fad and fashion accessory. To his conservative mind, putting the spotlight on the most ridiculous and inconsequential debates in American society will somehow show how silly and misguided open-minded thinking is. Why should, Will wonders, any red-blooded American even care about naming sports teams after annihilated tribes? Just enjoy the show.
Listen up Focks News and Mr. Will!
Liberalism, and not debates about college mascots and Christmas trees in public spaces, is a deadly serious affair. It is the battle to keep evolution in our schools, to keep our country out of war, to pay for our health insurance even when we are too poor to afford it. Liberalism is not some episode of “All in the Family” when Meathead screams at Archie. Liberalism is the creed that will one day free us from hating one another because of “traditional values” and “religious differences”. Liberalism will save the planet, because it will state factually and without bias, that global warming and nuclear weapons will do us in. Conservative culturalists, like Mr. Will, would like to debate about insipid issues and ignore the rampant corruption and lies perpetuated by the Bush regime. Liberals have nothing to hide from except their own squeamishness.
George Will may hold lefties up to ridicule but his own arguments cannot even be respected in all seriousness.
Here in Van Nuys 
About the only credit I can give George Will is that at least he is an eggheaded right-winger, as opposed to a knuckle-dragging one. (I don’t take “eggheaded” to be an insult, even if it was coined as such.) This means that there is at least a small of chance of debating the man, and pehaps having him listen to an opposing point-of-view.
Having said that, his stance on this issue is wildly insensitive and wrong-headed. It is hardly a whiff of an effort for a college team to change their name. Rallying to the banner of “tradition” is a specious argument. Slavery was also a tradition in the country, but you don’t see anyone arguing for that tradition to be maintained. (I hate to throw an atom bomb, metaphorically speaking, but sometimes hyperbole is the only way to make your point.)
The point is, Will’s stance is highly suspect, and untenable.
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Consider also, in the case of Chief Illiniwek, that the mascot’s regalia is wildly inauthentic, and that The Chief has always been portrayed by a white man–usually a member of UIUC’s world’s-largest fraternity system.
By contrast, Utah has never used such a mascot, and considering that there’s a small but considerable Ute population remaining in the state, the tribe keeps the university honest as far as what symbols it uses.
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So, alas, Mr. Will’s writing is actually a projection of the collective psyche of many disgruntled Americans, who in fact could forsake the not-so entertaining mock tribal savagery alright, but hardly the entitlement to continue the insulting tradition so that to denying guilt.
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Wad-
You’re absolutely right about the inherent racism and insult in using essentially the religious and holy rituals of Native Americans as “entertainment” for spectators at sporting events. This past summer I worked with Native Americans for a documentary where they came to the set and conducted a prayer ceremony complete with their proper regalia. They asked for complete and respectfuul silence from the members of the crew as they began to chant around a fire…..Just as Christians praying would ask for deference and respect from a congregation as well.
Mr. Will, like so many, would like to return to the “innocent” days of the 1950’s when sports teams could impersonate native americans and nobody thought that anybody would give a damn.
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I rarely ever agree with George Will, but when I read him, I like his style of writing. His use of $20 words caricature him, but at least Will attempts to write well-thought-out columns. Most other right-wing columnists cannot get beyond tub-thumping.
I can dissect the meanings and motivation behind right-wing thought, but that takes the length of a dissertation.
Let me just say this to liberals (I am not one, BTW). Don’t worry too much about what they say. It’s not their arguments that matter so much as their motivations. It’s not what they say, it’s what (and whom) they represent.
That being said, my position on this matter is this: The more we understand of history and cultures, the more we should realize how insulting and racist these team symbols are.
My solution (not one I could take credit for) is to let the surviving members of the tribes represented by the sports teams have the right to their name and its image. College and professional sports is a multi-billion dollar industry, and they make money off of people who still must live in squalor. The tribes can license out the names to universities or pro teams if they wish, or can unilaterally revoke them. The bottom line is that the use of the names should be determined by the tribes alone.
Native Americans are overrepresented in team names to reflect their savagery. In our multicultural nation, every ethnicity, religion and subgroup should be caricatured in the name of good, clean sporting fun.
What would be the reaction if there was the Brooklyn Kikes, Atlanta Sambos, Tennessee Rednecks, Seattle Japs, Los Angeles Wetbacks or the Fightin’ Faggots of Frisco? But these groups already had/have to endure societal persecution. Let’s get the relatively well-off their place in the sun. What about the Washington WASPs? They dominate the league through average game-play, but when they lose their games, they review the entire contest and try to turn plays over by instant replay. When that fails, the WASP owner tries to buy off other players or buy out other owners. Should that fail, their upcoming opponents are mysteriously harassed and injured off the field. Every season, it turns out the same. The WASPs would win enough just to get a wild-card berth and parlay these tactics to win the championship every year. Their gallant opponents would play a better game and even have better attendance, but not even that can help them overcome the powerful WASPs.
[Note to moderator: If you can, please don’t turf this post on account of the derogatory names used in the above paragraph. It’s not meant to insult for the sake of insulting, but it’s meant as a torturous use of the vernacular to make the point of the utter banality of racism and classism. In other words, become the enemy to destroy it.]
Maybe if everyone is insulted just a little bit, then they would understand why Native American names or caricatures should not be used for sports teams.
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Wow, George Will has indeed become an ineffective, senile columnist! I have not come across his writing for over 12 years, and now he is attempting a very late, unoriginal version of “The CLosing of the American Mind”.
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